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The Life of 
Lieutenant General 

Richard Heron Anderson 

OF THE 

Confederate States Army 



BY 

C. Irvine Walker 



Art Publishing Company 
Charleston, S. C. 



./i^-*?- vvx^ 



Copyright, 1917. 

by 
C. Irvine Walker 



m II 1917 



Manufactured by 

L. H. JENKINS, INC. 

ZUchmoud, Va. 



©CI.A477996 




Courtesy Century Co. 

Lt. General Richard Heron Anderson 



DEDICATED TO 
ANN CATHERINE SAUNDERS 

THE LOYAL NIECE OF GENERAL ANDERSON 

WHO INSPIRED THIS EFFORT TO 

PRESERVE HIS WELL DESERVED FAME 

AND TO 

MY WIFE 

WHO AIDED BY HER COUNSEL 
AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 



PREFACE 



The duty assigned the Author by the family of General 
Anderson and by his comrades of Camp Dick Anderson, 
U. C. v., of preparing this Life of the heroic patriot and 
soldier, has proved to him one of intense personal gratifica- 
tion. He had had the privilege of some association with 
General Anderson, during his sojourn in Charleston, and 
thought he appreciated his worth and nobility, but after 
the study necessary for this work, he realizes that he had 
not the faintest conception of the grandeur of the man, or 
the vast importance his services had been to his Country. 
Markedly, at two critical periods, his skill as a General, 
saved the Army of Northern Virginia from crushing dis- 
aster and several times he contributed essentially to its 
success. If this work will win for him the fame his 
glorious achievements so richly deserve it will have ac- 
complished its object, and the Author be amply rewarded. 

The Author acknowledges his indebtedness for many of 
the facts herein, to various publications bearing upon the 
War's history, particularly "The War of the Rebellion 
Records." He having been most kindly assisted by, 
earnestly thanks for the advice and information generously 
given by many, prominently by Gen. Thos. T. Munford, 
Rev. Dr. J. H. McNeilly, Maj. Edward N. Thurston, Mrs. 
W. L. Saunders, Col. J. P. Nicholson and Judge and Mrs. 
J. T. Goolrick. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter. Page. 

I. Ancestry, Family and Home 9 

II. His Career Up to 1861 18 

III. The Great War of Secession 27 

IV. What the United States Owes to the Confederacy 56 

V. His Service in South Carolina and Florida 59 

VI. The Peninsular Campaign, Including the Battle of 

Williamsburg 64 

VII. Battle of Seven Pines, or Fair Oaks 74 

VIII. Battle of (1st) Cold Harbor, or Gaines Mills 83 

IX. Battles of F.rayser's Farm and Malvern Hill 91 

X. North Virginia Campaign of 1862 and Battle of 

Manassas - 95 

XI. Maryland Campaign, Including Battle of Sharpsburg 105 

XII. Battle of Fredericksburg 113 

XIII. Chancellorsville Campaign 131 

XIV. Pennsylvania Campaign, Including Battle of Gettys- 

burg 142 

XV. Campaign of Manoeuvres in Northern Virginia in 

1863 153 

XVI. Campaign From Rapidan to Petersburg, Including 
Battles of The Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and 
2nd Cold Harbor 158 

XVII. Campaign After 2nd Cold Harbor and Up to the 

Valley Campaign of 1864 174 

XVIII. Valley Campaign, Summer of 1864 180 

XIX. Siege of Petersburg 192 

XX. Last Days of Lee's Army 199 

XXI. Vindication of Gen. Anderson From the Insinuations 
of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, As to the Battle of Five 
Forks 214 

XXII. The Confederacy's Chances of Success 231 

XXIII. Gen. Anderson's Commands 236 

XXIV. His Career After the War 237 

XXV. Monument at Beaufort, S. C 255 

XXVI. Gen. Anderson's Character _ 263 



CHAPTER I. 

Ancestry, Family and Home. 

We, of the South, dearly love family associations and 
warmly cherish their influences on the individual and upon 
the social life of a community. While we are ready to 
recognize the merits and award full credit to the self made 
man, yet deep down in our hearts we would honor him 
rather the more if he had a well known pedigree. All men 
who rise to distinction in life's struggle are "self made", 
their success being accomplished by their own personal 
sacrifice and efforts ; neither blood nor inheritance can 
make a man great. Yet it does rather please us to know 
that the man, in addition to his self developed qualities, 
has a distinguished lineage. We well know that such pedi- 
gree does not ensure manly achievements, however much 
social eminence it may give. It is not proposed to defend 
this idiosyncracy, but as our readers are apt to be mostly 
in and of the South, possessing such bias, it will not be 
irrelevant to commence the Story of the Life of General 
Richard H. Anderson with a brief resume of that of his 
forbears and of his contemporaneous family and other early 
surroundings. 

But to correctly learn a man's real personality it is cer- 
tainly advisable, if not absolutely necessary, to be acquaint- 
ed with the circumstances and influences which contributed 
to the formation of his character. We are all, during our 



lo LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

entire lives, influenced by our surroundings. So there is 
an appropriateness, as well as the above referred to idiosyn- 
cracy, to warrant our yielding to our Southern peculiarities. 

Genl. Anderson came of a line, many of whom were 
fighters and all men of eminent individuality. Their 
achievements were impressed upon him by the traditions, 
the relics and the mementoes of their heroic past, gathered 
and sacredly preserved at the old family homestead. So we 
naturally expect, as the tale of his life work is unfolded 
to find him not only a fighter, but a good fighter and brave 
and skillful General. 

To those who read only for the interest of the story, or 
for the study of War Problems, this may not be very at- 
tractive. Let such then skip and pass on to the next 
Chapter. But to the student, or reader, who really desires 
to learn what influences made Genl. Anderson the man he 
was, this will not be amiss ; — they will require this informa- 
tion. Environments go far towards the making of the man 
and knowing such, one can form a more correct apprecia- 
tion of Genl. Anderson. 

In the life of our country, two great revolutions have 
swept over it, each fraught to it, with decisive destinies. 
The first freed the Colonies from the rule of English royalty 
and established them as a Confederacy of State Sovereign- 
ties. The second consolidated this State Federation into a 
cohesive centralized Nation. While neither rose to the 
dazzling distinction of Washington, Lee, Lincoln, or Grant, 
yet the Richard Anderson, of each Revolution, was a dis- 
tinguished figure of his times. The Richard Anderson of 
the First, and the Richard H. Anderson of the Second. The 
first a Captain of the 7th. Regiment of the Maryland Line, 
and the Second, his grandson, far more eminent, a Lieuten- 
ant General in the Confederate Army. The former trans- 
mitted to the latter, those traits and characteristics which 
won him the soubriquet of "Fighting Dick Anderson". 



ANCESTRY, FAMILY AND HOME ii 

Both contended for the same lofty principles — freedom and 
the right of self-government. 

The record of the Revolutionary Richard Anderson, 
shows that he also deserved the same soubriquet, of "Fight- 
ing Dick", as did his grandson. At the battle of German- 
town, when the Company of which Richard Anderson was 
First Lieutenant, was charging Chew's House, the Captain 
shrunk behind a tree. The Colonel rode up and called "who 
commands this company?" Lieut. Anderson replied that he 
did, and led them in the charge through a heavy fire of 
Artillery and musketry. Ere he retreated from the field Col. 
Gunby, Lieut. Anderson and one other officer, alone re- 
mained of their Regiment, the rest having been either 
killed, wounded or captured. He was promoted for his 
gallantry to be Captain and subsequently brevetted, Major. 
Again he showed his coolness and gallantry at the Battle 
of Cowpens. There an order was given to seize the British 
Artillery, and Capt. Anderson made the first capture of a 
gun. He planted the end of his espantoon forward into 
the ground, and making a flying leap landed squarely upon 
the gun. The gunner was just in the act of firing when 
the gallant Captain ran his sword through him. 

Capt. Anderson had been promoted Nov. 15th. 1777, and 
his commission bears the signature of John Jay, afterwards 
Chief Justice of the United States. He wore this commis- 
sion tied around his neck thereafter, so that if taken pris- 
oner, he could prove his rank and his entitlement to treat- 
ment befitting such rank. On the parchment were blood 
stains from wounds received at the Battles of Camden and 
at Guilford. At the Battle of Monmouth Court House he 
fought with intrepidity under Col. John Gunby, of the 
Eastern Shore of Maryland, while the heroic friend of 
America, Lafayette, led the van. 

At the disastrous Battle of Green Swamp or Camden, 
"Capt. Anderson was severely wounded, and owed his life 



12 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

to his Colonel who passing by, had the wounded man placed 
behind him on his own horse and with this incumbrance, 
at the head of his Regiment, Col. Gunby led on his men to 
another charge. * * * Arriving at the swamp, which was 
difficult of passage, and believing he had received his death 
wound, Capt. Anderson entreated his commander not to en- 
danger his own life by continuing to carry him on horse- 
back, but Col. Gunby replied that they had lived or died 
together, and having reached the other side in safety, com- 
mitted the exhausted Captain to the care of two officers." 

The fighting blood in the Anderson family, was further 
enriched by the marriage of this valiant Revolutionary hero 
to Ann Wallace, a descendant of the famous Wallace of 
Scotland. Our "Fighting Dick" was true to this inherited 
gallantry and was a true scion of a race of fighting men. 

The son of Col. Richard Anderson, Dr. William Wal- 
lace Anderson, moved to Statesburg, S. C. in 1810. He 
married Mary Jane Mackenzie, who was the adopted 
daughter of Thomas Hooper. The Hooper family, during 
Colonial and Revolutionary days owned and resided at the 
historic mansion, Hill Crest, in the High Hills of Santee, 
between Camden and Sumter. After his marriage Dr. 
Anderson occupied this beautiful place as his home, and 
thereafter it was known as the "Anderson place." 

When the Confederate War broke out Dr. Anderson was 
far too aged to give his personal services to the cause, but 
he was devotedly loyal to it. He once said, "I will risk 
everything I am worth in support of my adopted State, 
through every trial and every danger." He sent his labor- 
ers to work on the fortifications around Charleston. In 
acknowledgment of this vajued aid he was presented with 
a walking cane made from a piece of the Flag Staff at Fort 
Sumter, which was at the Fort when it was captured in 
April, 1861. And he gave to the cause of Southern Inde- 
pendence three Sons — and three such sons ! 



ANCESTRY, FAMILY AND HOME 13 

The children of this Dr. W. W. Anderson, of Hill Crest, 
were Mary Heron, (Gen.) Richard Heron, Edward Mac- 
kenzie, (Dr.) William Wallace, Mary Hooper, Franklin 
and John Benjamin. His second wife was Elizabeth Waties, 
a daughter of Judge Waties, from which union there was 
no issue. 

Genl. R. H. Anderson married Sarah Gibson, daughter 
of Hon. John B. Gibson, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. 
She died in Charleston, S. C, August nth, 1872. Their 
children were Richard Gibson, who died in his early man- 
hood and Sarah Galbraith, who married Wm. DeSaussure 
Blanding, who is now deceased. Mrs. Blanding and her 
three daughters are now (1917) residing in Lexington, Ky. 
The General's second wife was Martha Mellette, who sur- 
vived him. 

Edward Mackenzie Anderson was killed at his brother's 
side while serving on his Staff at the Battle of Williams- 
burg, Va., on the Peninsula. He was unmarried. 

Dr. William Wallace Anderson, the General's brother, 
was a physician and eminent scientist. In 1849 he entered 
the United States Army as a Surgeon and served at various 
posts in Texas and New Mexico. "He had inherited his 
father's taste for natural history and scientific study and 
development. While on his western tour of duty he be- 
came deeply interested in making a collection of rare plants 
and birds. His finest specimens of birds were sent to the 
Smithsonian Institute. That these contributions were of 
unusual value is shown by letters received from Prof. 
Spencer T. Baird. * * * As a voluntary observer for many 
years, his meterological records were of great service to 
the Weather Bureau at Washington * * * He dwelt amongst 
the people of his own Southland, the exemplification of the 
highest qualities of Christian grace and manhood. Passing 
beyond the portals into the higher life in his eighty-seventh 



14 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

year, of him it can be truly said 'He did justly, loved mercy 
and walked humbly with his God.' " 

He was stationed at San Antonio, Tex., the post being 
commanded by Col. Robert E. Lee, at the time South Caro- 
lina seceded. He resigned, during the spring of 1861, and 
at once offered his services to the Southern Confederacy. 
He first served under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in Virginia, 
then in Tennessee and Mississippi, and was Medical Di- 
rector to Genl. Pemberton at Vicksburg. Oct. 16, 1863, he 
was assigned to duty as ''Medical Inspector with superin- 
tendence of Vaccination of the Armies, Hospitals and 
Camps of Instruction of the Confederate States." Finding 
the territory too extended, Nov. 2nd. the War Department 
at his suggestion restricted his labors to the States of 
North and South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, 
and Mississippi. He continued in this position until the 
close of the War, ranking as Major, the highest grade 
given in the Medical Corps of the Confederacy. 

He married Mary Virginia, daughter of Gen. Thomas 
Childs, of Massachusetts. Their children, Elizabeth 
Waties, now Mrs. Mark Reynolds, Ann Catherine, now Mrs. 
W. L. Saunders, William Wallace, Mary Virginia, now Mrs. 
W. B. Nelson, and Benjamin Mackenzie. Mr. W. L. Saun- 
ders, who married Ann Catherine, now owns and with his 
wMfe and family, resides at Hill Crest, the old Anderson 
homestead. 

To Mrs. W. L. Saunders' love for and high admiration 
of her Uncle, Gen. R. H. Anderson, is due this effort to 
preserve his memory and perpetuate his fame. For years 
she has kept his memory green. Her indomitable per- 
sistence and loyal devotion has brought about this publica- 
tion to revive his fame from a forgetfulness, which his 
modesty and retiring disposition allowed. General Ander- 
son's aim in life was to do — not to write or speak of what 
he did ; to accomplish great deeds, but never to seek the 



ANCESTRY, FAMILY AND HOME 15 

worldly commendation or reward they so richly deserved ; 
he believed that duty well done was its due reward. So 
excessive was he in this modesty that he was not just to 
himself. Fortunate it is for his fame, that he had a loving 
niece, who appreciating his grandeur, has devoted her ef- 
forts to placing him on that lofty pinnacle, his brilliant 
achievements warrant. Fortunate that this niece had not 
only the desire, but the ability to do this, and to enthuse 
others to aid her and thus accomplish her noble aims. 

Mary Hooper Anderson, the sister of the General, mar- 
ried Col. Frederick Lynn Childs, a most distinguished Ord- 
nance Officer of the Confederacy. His services were in- 
valuable. In the manufacture of the munitions of war, he 
accomplished as much, if not more, than any other man 
in the Confederacy. For over two years he was stationed 
at Charleston, S. C, in command of the Arsenal, at which 
were twenty-five workshops and a foundry. He directed 
also eight or ten establishments in other places in the State. 
Like his brother-in-law, General Anderson, he was modest, 
retiring and devoted, first and all the time, to his duty. 

Writing to his wife he said, "Colonel Gorgas has an- 
swered my letters as usual, 'of more service where I am 
than I could be in the field,' hopes that the War Depart- 
ment will not be unmindful of my services." He wanted 
service in the field, and naturally chafed when his juniors 
in the old Army were made Generals. He again writes 
"yet I must plod on as a Captain, and console myself with 
being useful. I would rather try to win promotion in the 
field. To think of our children reading the history of this 
revolution without seeing my name mentioned in it. How- 
ever, I shall work a little longer ; there is one more thing I 
want to see done for the defence of old Charleston Harbor, 
and that is to have furnaces made at Forts Sumter and 
Moultrie for firing molten iron into the Federal vessels when 
they come next fall." This was a most original idea, and 



i6 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

were it not evolved from the brain of an experienced engi- 
neer it might be called chimerical. How many seemingly 
more impracticable inventions have we lived to see accom- 
plished and in every day use. It was not wilder then than 
a Cannon throwing a bolt of a ton's weight and many miles, 
the telephone, the wireless telegraph, and the marvellous 
production of electric machinery. 

Hill Crest, the Anderson Homestead, in the "High Hills 
of Santee," Sumter County, South Carolina, is on the old 
historic highway from Charlotte to Charleston. Along 
this road, in the piping days of peace, passed the products 
of the up-country — wagons filled with corn, cotton and 
pi-ovisions, great rolling hogsheads of tobacco, droves of 
hogs, sheep, cattle, all moving to the markets of Charleston, 
the emporium of the State. By its tortuous lengths, in 
War times, with colors flying, marched the British troops 
of Lord Cornwallis. and again, the American patriots under 
General Greene ; bloody Tarleton leading his Scarlet 
Legions, and Marion and Sumter sweeping by with their 
ragged, but glorious Partisans. 

To the side of the road, just opposite a lovely valley of 
General Sumter's historic estate, rises a majestic knoll, 
gently sloping to its oak crowned crest, on which stands a 
grand old mansion. Many of the very trees on the lawn 
are vested with traditionary lore. The old house is in a 
good state of preservation, replete with associations, relics, 
legends of days of yore, — Colonial, Revolutionary, Indian, 
War of 1 812, Mexican War and Confederate. Its doors are 
always wide open with gracious hospitality. Its ample pro- 
portions and spacious rooms mellowed by the lights and 
shadows of chivalric history, impart to it an atmosphere of 
dignity and of romance. During the Revolution, it was 
at one time occupied by Lord Cornwallis, as British Head- 
quarters, and afterwards by Generals Greene and Sumter 
of the American Army. On one of the doors of the Hall is 




u 




ANCESTRY, FAMILY AND HOME 17 

the mark from the blow made with the butt end of a musket 
of a British soldier, and near it the letters C. A. carved by 
a soldier of General Greene's Army, showing that the Con- 
tinental Army subsequently occupied the Mansion. Each 
child of the family has sipped from General Washington's 
spoon ; has handled most carefully the wax candle, almost 
black with age, taken from the stores of Lord Cornwallis 
after his surrender at Yorktown; has reverently turned the 
precious leaves of General Childs' Bible (which was lost 
during the siege of Fort Erie in 1814, and found at Fort 
Niagara in 1816) ; and gazed with deep admiration at the 
elaborately embroidered priest's robe, the gift of Nuns in 
Mexico, for General Child's kind protection, given them 
during the American occupation. The swords, and sashes 
and epaulets of generations of warriors bear witness to the 
bravery of the men of the family, prominent, always 
amongst those who have made American history, gave us 
and preserved for us the freedom of our Country. All an 
inspiration to patriotic duty ! Is it any wonder, that 
nursed amongst such an inheritance, surrounded by such 
inspiriting influences and inspired by such thrilling mem- 
ories, that our General Anderson proved an ardent patriot, 
a pure man and a gallant soldier? 



CHAPTER II. 

His Career Up to i86i, 

Richard H. Anderson was born at Hill Crest, Sumter 
County, South Carolina, October 7, 1821, in the noted 
"High Hills of Santee." In his boyhood days he led the 
life of the country lad of the more opulent planting class, 
not having the necessity for manual labor. When not en- 
gaged in his books and in the training of his intellectual 
faculties, he was riding, hunting, shooting or engaged in 
other out door sports. His gentle, unselfish nature en- 
deared him to his companions. The younger boys, with 
high admiration, looked up to "Old Dick" as he was famil- 
iarly called by them. One of them, who in mature manhood 
rose to distinction in this State, recalled his firing his first 
shot at a bird, the gun resting on "Old Dick's" shoulder. 
Soubriquets generally fit characteristics and the affectionate 
"Old Dick" showed that in youth his companions recog- 
nized that entire reliability and geniality, which marked 
him through life. 

In his seventeenth year, July 1, 1838, he entered the 
United States Military Academy, having secured his ap- 
pointment through Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, and graduated 
on the completion of his course, July 1, 1842. His career 
in the Academy was evidently a good all round one, meet- 
ing generally all requirements. It would be safe to guess, 
however, that he gave the larger share of his attention 



HIS CAREER UP TO 1861 19 

to the study of military science and practice of tactics. 
He was a good horseman ; all Southern boys of his stand- 
ing were trained to that in their earliest years ; so in his 
Army life he was frequently assigned to duty at the Army 
Schools of Cavalry practice. Somewhat like Longstreet, 
his class mate, whom he however stood ahead of, his stand- 
ing on the merit roll gave no promise of the distinguished 
position he achieved when War brought out what was in 
the man. College Class standing is no standard by which 
to measure ability to win success in the contests of life. 

Several of his class, like himself, rose to distinction. 
Among them during the War, on the Federal side, were 
Generals Rosencranz, Pope and Sykes, and on the Confed- 
erate side were Generals Longstreet, D. H. Hill, A. P. 
Stewart, Van Dorn, McLaws and G. W. Smith. In the 
next class, that of 1843, was the most distinguished General 
of the United States Army and President of our Country, 
Ulysses S. Grant. Anderson was in the Academy three 
years with him. Two classes ahead of x\nderson's, pro- 
duced Generals Halleck, Sherman and Thomas. During 
his career at West Point, Cadet Anderson was thus associ- 
ated with a number of men whose names have been written 
high on the roll of fame. Of the class graduating just 
when Cadet Anderson matriculated, were Generals Beaure- 
gard and McDowell, each of whom commanded one of the 
hostile Armies, which met at Manassas. In that class also 
were Generals Bragg and Hardee. In the great struggle of 
1861-5, contemporaries at West Point were opposed to each 
other. Bragg fought Rosencranz from Murfreesboro to 
Chickamauga, and Beauregard won over his classmate Mc- 
Dowell at Bull Run. 

An author once wrote, that when writing of Army Cam- 
paigns, he always found it best in order to thoroughly com- 
prehend them, to first study the characters of the command- 
ing officers. This being necessary in reviewing, how much 



20 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

more so was it in directing. What a rare chance the old 
Army Officers, in fighting out the great War between the 
States, had in knowing each other, from association at 
West Point and in the Army. They could thus judge what 
each others visible movements meant, and what their an- 
tagonists were apt to do under known circumstances. Gen- 
eral Sherman rejoiced when he heard of General Joseph E. 
Johnston's removal from the command of the Confederate 
Army opposing him, and of General Jno. B. Hood's being 
placed in command. The career of General Hood with that 
Army fully justified General Sherman's rejoicings. Sher- 
man must have relied at least to given measure, upon his 
judgment of the characteristics of his opposing Command- 
ers, to have been the very best strategist, on the Union 
side, during the War. As a strategist, and it is said with 
all deference to the magnificent military accomplishments 
of General Grant, he was his superior. Compare the cam- 
paign of Sherman from Dalton to Atlanta, with Grant's 
from the Rapidan to Petersburg. Both used flanking move- 
ments. Sherman's Army only slightly outnumbered John- 
ston's but Grant's was double Lee's. Sherman's losses up 
to Atlanta were not heavy. Grant sacrificed 65,000 men, 
more than Lee's whole Army, before he reached his goal. 
The results were about the same. Sherman accomplished 
with little, Grant with tremendous loss. Grant's inhuman 
method was to wear out his opponent by attrition. In 
butchering his own men he killed some of the enemy. His 
men could be replaced, Lee's could not be. This was a 
dead sure way of winning, and the only plan which ever 
met success, but it was neither strategy nor generalship. 
O, the pity ! that Sherman had not continued his career as 
the great strategist, instead of seizing the torch of the in- 
cendiary and making war upon the defenceless women and 
children of Georgia and the Carolinas. But like Grant's 
policy, it too was effective. Inhuman and revolting as were 



HIS CAREER UP TO 1861 2l 

Sherman's torch and Grant's attrition, together they ended 
the war. 

On graduation R. H. Anderson was appointed Brevet 
Second Lieutenant First Dragoons. He served at the Cav- 
alry School for Practice, at Carlisle, Penn., in 1842. During 
the years 1843 to 1845 he was on frontier service. The 
Christian White Brother had not yet dispossessed the native 
Indian of all his lands. Constant contest was inevitable 
whilst this "benevolent assimilation" was progressing. The 
stronger party fought for conquest, the weaker in defence 
of their homes. So the Army had to be used, but its use 
was no reflection individually upon the Officers or men. 
In about two hundred years after the first white man had 
planted his foot on Virginia's shores, a large portion of 
the country's immense territory had been forcibly wrested 
from its original owners and within three hundred years, 
we had it all. Lieutenant Anderson simply performed his 
duty to his Flag and to the government it represented. All 
responsibility for this crime rests upon the shoulders of the 
entire people, not of any political party or the Army, for all 
joined hands in driving the poor Indian from his home. 

Lieutenant Anderson took part in the occupation of Texas 
by forces of the United States, He had then been promoted 
to be Second Lieutenant, in the Second Dragoons, his com- 
pany being commanded by Captain W. J. Hardee, who sub- 
sequently rose to the rank of Lieutenant General in the 
Confederate Army. In a measure, we treated the Spanish 
Mexican race as we had done the Indian. They could not 
stand against the civilization of the Anglo Saxon. The 
American citizens peacefully entered that part of Mexico, 
which is now Texas, and there settled. When they became 
strong enough, they overthrew the Mexican domination and 
made Texas a free Republic. As soon as the politicians — 
or as they are all now dead — statesmen, at Washington 
could agree, Texas was admitted into the Union — quietly 



22 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

assimilated. Of course the Mexicans resented this and re- 
sorted to the usual human method of settling disputes — 
fighting. It showed a most patriotic and noble spirit, but 
little discretion. The United States was the big boy, and 
all he had to do was to spank the little fellow and take 
all the marbles out of his pockets. The struggle brought 
out many noble qualities on both sides — and some which 
had best be buried. As the victors had the writing of the 
history, none but the good, on our side, appears. Of that 
good, there was ample in gallantry and skill to make us 
proud of those splendid armies which planted the Stars 
and Stripes upon the Hall of the Montezumas. 

During the Mexican War, Lieutenant Anderson was al- 
ways at the front with his Company. He took part in the 
Siege of Vera Cruz, skirmish of La Hoya, Battles of Con- 
treras and Cherubusco, skirmish at San Augustine, Battle 
of Molino del Rey, and in the operations resulting in the 
capture of the City of Mexico. His gallantry in the affair 
at San Augustine was so conspicuous that the United States 
Government conferred upon him the Brevet of First Lieu- 
tenant "for gallant and meritorious conduct in an affair 
with the enemy at San Augustine." 

In recognition of his loyal and devoted services through- 
out the Mexican War, the State of South Carolina pre- 
sented Captain Anderson with a very handsome sword. 
This was decided upon at the Annual Session of the Legis- 
lature of 1857, when the following resolutions were passed 
by the Senate and House of Representatives. They were 
offered by Senator Moses, in the Senate. 

"Whereas : The State of South Carolina recognizes with 
pride and gratification the military services of her son, Cap- 
tain Richard H. Anderson, of the United States Army, in 
the late War with Mexico, as displayed in all the conflicts 
with the enemy, commencing at Vera Cruz, and terminating 
with the capture of the City of Mexico. 



HIS CAREER UP TO 1861 23 

"And whereas: It is the high and grateful privilege and 
duty ol a State to manifest, by a proper expression, its ap- 
preciation of her heroic and patriotic sons, — 

"Be it tlierefore. Resolved: : That the Governor be re- 
quested lo procure a sword, with proper and suitable de- 
vices, and present the same in the name of the State, to 
Captain Richard H. Anderson, as an expression of its ap- 
preciation of his gallant and meritorious services." 

The sword was inscribed: "South Carolina to Captain 
Richard Heron Anderson, a memorial of gallant conduct in 
service at Vera Cruz, Cherubusco, Molina del Rey, Mexico." 
The hilt of the sword is surmounted with a head of Calhoun, 
and at the top of the scabbard a shield of gold, bearing the 
Coat of Arms of South Carolina. 

The receipt of the Sword was acknowledged in the fol- 
lowing letter: 

Camp Floyd, Utah Territory, 

April 28, 1859. 

Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter enclosing a copy of the resolution of the Senate and 
House of Representatives of the General Assembly of South 
Carolina, which conferred upon me the high distinction of 
its commendation and rewarded my military service by the 
gift of a sword. 

It is with unalloyed pleasure and deep gratification that I 
receive this token of remembrance and approbation from 
my native State, and it is with just pride that I welcome so 
unlocked for and flattering a recognition. 

It also affords me great happiness to remember that this 
high honor has been bestowed upon me for service in a 
campaign to the successful and glorious termination of 
which the heroic Palmetto Regiment so gallantly con- 
tributed. Twenty-one years ago I left my home to enter the 
Military Academy of the United States. Since that time 
I have revisited my native State only at long intervals, but 



24 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

my affection for it has not been diminished by my absence. 
I have been led, by my services to our common country, 
into almost every quarter of her wide and magnificent do- 
main ; but I have no where found a land to prefer to our 
beloved State, nor have I ceased throughout all my wan- 
derings to entertain the hope that at some future day I may 
find a home and a resting place upon its soil. 

The feelings and reflections which your letter excites are 
all additional incentives to me to prove myself not unworthy 
of the commendation and regard so generously bestowed ; 
to cherish attachment to the Government and institutions of 
my country ; to preserve a high admiration for the noble 
patriotism of the great statesman whom you name; to be 
guided by his wisdom and to emulate the stainless purity 
of his private life. 

The good wishes with which you present it, enhances the 
value of my country's gift, and increases the pleasure of 
acceptance. 

Will you be so good as to conmiunicate to the General 
Assembly my most grateful acknowledgements, to which I 
feel that I have given very imperfect expression. For your 
continued happiness and prosperity allow me to offer you 
my best wishes, and believe me, with great regard and re- 
spect your most obedient servant, 

R. H. Anderson. 

To his Excellency, 

R. F. W. Alston, 

Governor of South Carolina. 
After the Mexican War he was promoted July 13, 1848, 
to be First Lieutenant, Second Dragoons. In 1849-50 he 
was again at the Cavalry School for practice, Carlisle, 
Penn. During this assignment the gallant Lieutenant evi- 
dently did not confine his activities entirely to instruction 
in Cavalry Tactics. He became far more ardent in wor- 



HIS CAREER UP TO 1861 25 

shipping Venus than Mars. Sarah, the fair daughter of 
the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, Hon. John B. Gibson, 
claimed his allegiance, and in 1850 he led his bride to the 
altar. Mrs. Anderson was a most fascinating and bril- 
liant woman, highly educated, accomplished, and with great 
personal beauty. She was a sweet congstress and delight- 
ful conversationalist. She possessed a keen sense of hu- 
mor, v\^ith the sparkle of wit to her intercourse. She was 
much sought after and largely admired. 

From 1852 to 1856 he was on the frontier. In 1856 with 
his company aided in quelling the disturbances in Kansas. 
On March 3, 1855, he had been promoted to be Captain, Sec- 
ond Dragoons. He took part in the Utah Expedition, 
1858-9. 

Without approval of the religion of the Mormons one's 
sympathies must be deeply moved for their sufferings. Liv- 
ing principally in the Northwestern States, their religious 
beliefs and practices were not in accord with the sentiments 
of the people with whom they lived. To escape the perse- 
cutions which were visited upon them, they emigrated to 
the far west, far beyond the limits of civilization. There 
they established their commonwealth and by wonderful in- 
dustry prospered and built up a strong and successful gov- 
ernment. They had moved to avoid giving offence to peo- 
ple of their home States. The settlement of our country, 
moving steadily westward, overtook the Mormons. They 
shared the fate of the original inhabitants of Utah — whom 
the Mormons had driven out and had to bow their heads 
to the United States. As they were the same blood as 
their conquerors, they were not driven out, but were com- 
pelled to gradually yield such of their habits as were 
deemed unrighteous, and they were finally absorbed into 
the general civilization of our country. Naturally they did 
not yield without a struggle, and the military forces of the 
country had to be sent against them. Captain Anderson 



26 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

most properly did his part as a soldier, well, as he dis- 
charged every duty throughout a long life. 

Captain Anderson was posted at Fort Kearney, Nebras- 
ka, from 1859 to 1861. When South Carolina seceded he 
resigned his commission in the United States Army, and 
offered his sword to his native State, South Carolina. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Great War of Secession. 

Any consideration of the causes which led to the War of 
Secession must be purely and entirely academic. The pas- 
sions of the era have been allayed. A candid investigation 
of the causes which induced or of the conduct of either 
party to the contest, cannot affect either, or change the re- 
sults. We can now judge calmly the influences which then 
either helped or hurt. We shall most certainly endeavor 
to present the facts truthfully and draw the inferences cor- 
rectly. The character and action of history makers are 
public property and must bear the scrutiny of free criti- 
cism. 

It is sincerely hoped that all who read these pages will 
be like the wise men of one of the Rev. Mr. Wigglesworth's 
"Reflections." "Convince a wise man of his error and he 
will thank you ; convince a fool and he will insult you," and 
remember that "the memory of an old man is a picture 
gallery of perished forms — a map of the world, not as it is, 
but as it was long ago." The Author is an old man, and 
the "picture gallery" of his memory is replete with events 
as they happened in his early manhood, and not as the 
W^orld now pictures them. 

Furthermore, when the Author says the North and South 
did so and so he intends merely to state what he believes 
to be facts as he saw or knew them, and gives no opinion 



28 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

either as to their moraHty or their legaHty. Even when he 
believes grievous wrong was done to the one side or to the 
other, he will endeavor to so fairly state the absolute facts, 
free from prejudice, as not to give even an indication of his 
feelings. The Author has many of the faults of humanity, 
and realizes that he does not always do as he should or as 
he wishes to do, and if any acrimonious criticism should 
unintentionally creep in, he begs forgiveness. 

The great American War with all its horrors has passed. 
Let all its bitterness be buried so deep that it never can 
be resurrected to mar the amity which now reigns between 
its survivors. There was much to be proud of, much of 
nobility, gallantry and patriotism. Let these be forever 
preserved and cherished. Let them stand through all time, 
a tribute to American heroism. 

The Spring of 1861 ushered in that terrible War, shak- 
ing the continent to its foundations, and in its wake fol- 
lowed untold misery and suffering, especially and most un- 
fortunately to the South. Death, wounds, disease, upon the 
North and upon the South alike, but to the South alone the 
appalling privations to her soldiers and to her people, the 
barbarous destruction of their property and the overturn- 
ing of their whole social fabric. But overpowering as was 
its holocaust of griefs and of horrors, there brightly shone 
through its mists an heroic manhood, placing the valor, 
sacrifice and devotion of the American Soldier — Union and 
Confederate — in the very highest niche of fame. All 
achieved by the gallant volunteer ; by the men who volun- 
tarily took up arms, the Union Soldier to sustain what he 
sincerely believed to be right and the Confederate in de- 
fence of his home and his fireside. 

How completely does this Volunteer service of both the 
Union and the Confederate Armies refute the theories now 
presented by many distinguished officers of the Army, as to 
the unreliability of a volunteer force. It was the Volunteer 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 29 

who won the independence of our country, the volunteer 
who defended it in the war of 1812, the Volunteer who 
met his fellow Volunteer at Manassas, fought for four long 
years and surrendered to Volunteers at Appomattox. Per- 
haps the opinions of such officers have been formed because 
of circumstances which had not previously existed, but do 
now. Altered national conditions may require other kinds 
of Armies and the officer of the present day probably is 
right in his convictions as to our existing necessities, but 
never let him lessen the splendid deeds of the volunteer in 
the past. 

Old Jubal Early duly honored the "Volunteer" when he 
wrote "The men whose names form the honor roll for the 
Armies of the Confederacy" (and this applies with equal 
truth to the Soldiers of the Union) "are those who volun- 
tarily entered the service at the beginning of the War or as 
soon as they were able to bear arms and served faithfully 
to the end or until killed or disabled ; and I would advise 
the unmarried among my fair country-women to choose 
their husbands from among the survivors of this class and 
not from the skulkers. By following this advice they will 
not be the mothers of cowards and their posterity will have 
no cause to blush for the conduct of their progenitors." 

The United States of 1861, legally a Confederation of 
Sovereign States, founded by the forefathers of the North 
and of the South, by this tremendous upheaval, was revo- 
lutionized into a strong centralized Nation. The heavy arm 
of power, crushed secession, re-united the States and made 
a new Nation. Will this give greater happiness to its peo- 
ple? A free government is established to secure the happi- 
ness of the whole or a vast majority of its people. If it 
does not give this, then it utterly fails to accomplish its 
mission. The centralized Nation, which was formed from 
the old Federal Republic, is certainly progressive and highly 
prosperous. But has this brought happiness to the great 



30 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

majority? The enormous concentration of wealth in the 
hands of a few, means untold misery, yea, absolute slavery 
to the masses. Ever by the side of great riches is found 
abject poverty, actual misery. Within a stone's throw of 
the palaces of Broadway, lie the slums of depraved hu- 
manity. 

The War of Secession has been officially designated "The 
War of the Rebellion." There is no disgrace in being a 
Rebel. If there was, how overwhelmingly disgraced must 
have been the Father of his Country, George Washington! 
He was actually and legally a Rebel. But the Confederate 
leader, Jefferson Davis, our glorious Robert E. Lee, and 
the million soldiers of the Armies of the Confederacy were 
not Rebels. Their States had legally and constitutionally 
withdrawn from the Union. They fought for the main- 
tenance of the very principles written in the Constitution of 
the United States by the pen of a Southern Statesman, and 
ever defended by the Swords of heroes of the North and of 
the South. These governmental principles were assailed, 
but the South preserved them when they were violated and 
when their country was invaded, they, standing by these 
principles, maintained them while protecting their homes 
and their firesides. Who then were truly the Rebels? Who 
aimed and endeavored to overthrow existing conditions? 
The Republican Party of 1860 — a sectional political or- 
ganization ! They objected to the original time-honored 
constitution and sought to change the established laws and 
principles of the United States. For this reason this Party, 
striving to alter the then existing principles of our Gov- 
ernment, were the Rebels!" The arch Rebel was not Jef- 
ferson Davis, but the radical leader of a radical political 
party, Abraham Lincoln. Therefore if we accept the term 
of "War of the Rebellion" as correct, let us never forget 
who were the true Rebels. 

Man was in 1861 and is today, and we fear will ever be, 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 31 

the same old fighting animal, which recorded history shows 
him ever to have been. Polished, refined externally and 
perhaps esthetically by civilization, broadened and doubt- 
less far more cultured and enlightened, but deep down in 
his nature, the same old fighter. He may not fight in the 
same manner, the machine gun has displaced the war club, 
but fight he does in War, and also alas ! in times of Peace. 
In Peace as well as in War life is a constant struggle and 
contest. Wars will hardly cease, we fear, until the devices 
for killing our fellow man are so perfected that death surely 
awaits the warrior. Then armies would only be a band of 
suicides. The real peace advocates, it is much feared, are 
the inventors of the Maxim stripe, not the preachers of our 
Lord's commands. Sad, sad, that it is so ! 

The terrible development during the past fifty years of 
death dealing devices and those to protect against them, 
make it far more costly now to undertake man killing war, 
than in 1861. The Confederate Treasury would have been 
bankrupted in furnishing money to fire a single shot from a 
modern sixteen inch gun. Unfortunately these prohibi- 
tive costs did not obtain in 1861. If they had, the Federals 
would have not been willing or indeed able to expend the 
vast sums required to conquer the South, and the South 
could not have bought the munitions wherewith to defend 
their homes. The entire cost of all the Minnie balls fired 
by friend and foe during the four years of War would hard- 
ly have cost as much as the cartridges fired by modern ma- 
chine guns in one day's battle between the Allies and the 
Germans. But, to be candid, the Southern people were so 
intensely angry at the wrongs heaped upon them, that 
they did not stop a moment to consider the cost. When 
coercion was threatened, a great War passion swept the en- 
tire South, carrying everything in a great wave of popular 
emotion. They wanted to fight whether they had arms or 
not. In fact. Confederate Regiments actually went into 



32 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

battle unarmed, trusting to arming themselves from dis- 
abled friends or foes. 

After the War enthusiasm had been worked up, similar 
conditions existed in the North, but rather milder, because 
the people were divided in opinions as to coercion, while the 
South was practically a unit for resistance. Every South- 
ern man was in the service of the Confederacy. 

History distinctly shows that most great Wars, senti- 
mentally gilded as they may be, have been waged by the 
aggressor, either to gain territorial expansion, uphold some 
dynasty, or in the great majority of instances, directly for 
financial advantage, by extending trade or plundering the 
conquered. "The love of money is the root of all evil," and 
of most Wars. The real causes of great national move- 
ments cannot be judged by the sentiment floating upon the 
surface, but by logically studying and interpreting the mo- 
tives and interests of the governing powers. Sentiment 
rules mankind, stirs us to action but alas ! often misleads 
us. Planted deep in the human breast is the exalted senti- 
ment of lofty patriotism, "My Country — right or wrong — 
bu"t~always my Country !" Leaders use sentiment to 
arouse their followers. They seldom, if ever proclaim their 
true reasons for War, but by patriotic and exciting appeals, 
enthuse their people to do what they, the said Leaders 
wish them to do, or if true patriots, think they ought to do 
for the country's good. 

The thirteen original and independent Sovereignties, so 
recognized in the Treaty of Peace, were formed into a con- 
federation of these sovereignties, united for their common 
defence, and the happiness of their people. The form of 
government then established was suited to the period, — the 
days of the Stage Coach. It was the only Union which all 
these States could agree upon, and the only one which would 
have brought them all together to form the United States. 
Then communication between the various States, and even 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 33 

between many parts of the same State, was infrequent and 
difficult. Then it was at least sixteen days journey, with 
good horses, from Washington to the Southernmost State, 
Georgia. It was the only practical form of republican gov- 
ernment for our country, under conditions then existing, 
leaving, as it did, to each State, the duty of protecting and 
caring for its own people. Communities and individuals 
were scattered over too wide a space to be governed from 
one central point. Nineteenth century progress changed all 
these conditions most entirely. The building of railroads, 
steamboats, telegraphs, with the increased settlement and 
population, brought the people of each commonwealth and 
of the various States into closer touch and fostered a com- 
munity of interests between their people, enlarging the ac- 
tivities of all. The building of railroads really sounded 
the death knell to State Sovereignty. 

This wonderful development affected the Northern and 
Southern States far differently. The progress of the North 
was far more rapid and more widely disseminated than that 
of the South. The South remained, mostly, agricultural in 
its pursuits, while the North expanded her manufactures 
and commerce. In the North this absolutely required inter- 
communication to advance the character of the business on 
which it was prospering. As an example of how the agri- 
cultural and State Sovereignty States of the South, ob- 
structed such inter-communication, the great State of North 
Carolina, before the War, required the gauge of all her rail- 
roads to be different from that of railroads of adjoining 
States. 

The agricultural isolation of the people of the South did 
not require the facilities for intercourse, so necessary to the 
Northern trade. The Northern States needed the centrali- 
zation of our Government to secure easier inter-communi- 
cation. The South was content as it was. Contentment is 
the foundation of true happiness. Progress springs from 



34 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

discontent, want of satisfaction in things as they are. 
Progress, with its hosts of material advantages, does not 
necessarily bring happiness. The marvellous expansion of 
the Northern States in wealth and population required, for 
the advancement of its progress, the strengthening of the 
Central or General Government, and the consequent cur- 
tailment, if not practical obliteration, of the Sovereignty of 
the various States. The people of the Southern States had 
little necessity for change, and clung to the conception of 
the general government, once held by all the original thir- 
teen States, and zealously maintained a strong conviction of 
the legality and propriety of State Sovereignty. The South- 
ern babe sucked this principle from its mother's breast. 

Such constitutionally revolutionary and basic change in 
the character of the government of the United States, need- 
ed perhaps to conform it to conditions existing in 1861, may 
have been for its betterment ; it certainly was for that of 
the North, but doubtful, at that period, for that of the 
South. Even were it beneficial to the South, it would not 
have justified the Northern part of the Country in enforcing 
its views upon the South, unless it adopted the Puritanic 
standard of man's duty to his fellow man, i. e., to make him 
think as he did. We can thus see that a change in the essen- 
tials, if not in the outward form of government, was neces- 
sary to the commercial and manufacturing North, and not 
to the agricultural South. 

More important and far reaching influences were at work 
to aid the Northern people to gain what they so sorely 
needed. An immense tide of immigration had set towards 
our country, which brought millions of foreigners to our 
shores. America had become the "El Dorado" for the op- 
pressed multitudes of Europe. These immigrants settled in 
the Northern and in the, then new. Northwestern States, on 
the lands deeded to the United States, largely by the State 
of Virginia, for the benefit of the country at large. They 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 35 

eventually formed new States which were admitted and be- 
came a part of the Union. The people of these new States 
most naturally regarded the United States government far 
differently from the people of the original thirteen States. 
These original States had made the Union. They were 
the creators thereof and instinctively their respective people 
regarded their State as superior to the United States — the 
creator being supreme to the created. The new States were 
however created by the United States, so their people, alike 
naturally felt that the power which had created their State 
organization was the Supreme. To Virginians, Virginia 
was superior. To Ohioans, the United States, from which 
they had received their Statehood, was superior. Was it 
then to be wondered at that the people of the Northwest 
from sentiment, and those of the Central and Northeastern 
States from interest, differed with the people of the South- 
ern States on the doctrine of State Sovereignty, which was 
the practical issue involved in the struggle. 

Then, the millions of foreigners, most of whom could not 
even speak our language, who had settled these States of 
the Northwest, came here, without any conception of the 
spirit or institutions of our free Republic. Those who had 
any political ideas were imbued with the influences of the 
monarchical governments, under which they had been born, 
then largely despotic and most certainly at absolute variance 
with and antagonistic to the principles of our government, 
debasing to those ideals of liberty, on which all free gov- 
ernments must rest. The masses, not the educated few is 
here referred to, the Johann Burmesters not Carl Schurzs. 
These foreign immigrants and their descendants influenced 
the course of events, not only directly by their votes when 
they became citizens, but not less effectively, yet insensibly 
by their ideas and opinions modifying those of the older 
settlers, whose ancestors had established the new and pecu- 



36 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

liar system of government, under which these foreign peo- 
ple had freely chosen to live. 

The immensity of this foreign power is well shown by 
the fact, taken from the military records of the War, that 
these, then newer Northwestern States, furnished during the 
War to the Union Armies, whose people were principally 
foreign immigrants or their descendants, over nine hun- 
dred thousand soldiers, more than one-third of the total 
strength of the Federal Armies. Adding to these the for- 
eigners and their descendants who had settled or been born 
in the Eastern and Central States and those who reached the 
country during the War, and if such joined the Army, 
fought only for their pay, far more than half of the Union 
Army was composed of immigrants and their descendants, 
who had settled or been born in our country, after the 
formation of our Government and had not inherited, nor 
alas ! could they have generally imbibed, the genuine spirit 
of our political institutions. 

In the South there had been practically no immigration. 
The newer Southern States had been settled by emigrants 
from the older Southern States, those of the original thir- 
teen, and hence by the descendants of those who had es- 
tablished the United States, and had formed its Constitu- 
tion. Hence the Southern States were not influenced by 
the opinions of immigrants as were the Western States. 

Bearing these facts in mind, it is not surprising that pre- 
vious to 1861 the trend of feeling North was towards cen- 
tralization and against State Sovereignty, and in the South 
towards the original conception of our form of Government, 
of which State Sovereignty was the cardinal principle ; one 
as jealously guarded for many years, by Massachusetts and 
Rhode Island as by Virginia and South Carolina. 

Disputes and honest differences between the Sections 
arose in the life of our country, as was to be expected, but 
they were always settled amicably or by compromise. But, 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 37 

at lasL and most sadly, angry passions were aroused. The 
birth and growth of the AboHtion Party, with all its at- 
tending bitterness, raised the passions of the people and 
then friendly settlement of differences became extremely 
difificult, if not entirely impossible. 

These agitators threatened and destroyed the property 
of the people of the South, invested in Slaves, regardless of 
the obligations of the Constitution of the Country, which 
protected them. Not being able to justify their rebellious 
creed by the laws of the land, they satisfied their con- 
sciences by proclaiming a "higher law" than that which 
gave them the enjoyment of tlieir own rights, liberties and 
happiness. 

The natural development of the Country would have 
peacefully produced in due time, the same general results 
as were only hastened by the War. The Southern people 
loyally loved the Union, and their leaders were far-sighted 
and patriotic Statesmen. Had its people not been antagon- 
ized, they would have gladly joined hands with all the 
States, having a love for their Country, to have made such 
changes in the organic law, as were rendered necessary by 
the marvellous progress made in all material and industrial 
pursuits. They would have been only too glad to fairly and 
honestly reorganize and accept the conditions naturally 
arising from the passing of the Stage Coach days, and the 
advent of the Railroad era and been willing to adapt the 
laws to meet the changed conditions. But the agitation 
and unlawful aggression of the Abolition Party, created is- 
sues, which annihilated all hopes of reasonable accommoda- 
tion and prevented any friendly solution of the grave prob- 
lems facing them. 

A very level headed financier, a South Carolinian by 
birth, but one who had moved to New York and there 
gained a large fortune ; a man who had never mixed in 
political life, but had mingled intimately with men of af- 



38 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

fairs, one of much sagacity, and a close student of current 
events, gave the following concise account of events which 
led up to the War. It is so plausible, that it must carry 
conviction to others as it has done to the Author. He said 
"that at the close of the War of 1812 the United States 
found itself in a condition of absolute dependence upon 
foreign nations for the munitions used to defend themselves 
and the absolute necessities of life. The very powder they 
fired at the British they had to buy from France and Spain, 
and the very clothes their people wore had been woven in 
England. So a Tariff was established to foster the manu- 
facture of war munitions, and the necessary articles of 
life. At that time New England had a large shipping in- 
terest. Her ships reached all the main ports of the world, 
the Tariff killed this industry, and the money invested there- 
in was transferred to the manufacture of articles protected 
by the Tariff. The margin of profit was large, and by adroit 
political management the scope of the Tariff was broad- 
ened, until the manufacturing interest of that section found 
they had a perfect bonanza. Then came the settlement of 
the West, which was at first purely agricultural and there- 
fore economically in sympathy with the South, also entirely 
agricultural. A coalition of these two sections against the 
manufacturing section was feared and giving so large a 
majority in Congress, its treasured bonanza would be taken 
from its beneficiaries. These Western States were almost 
entirely settled by immigrants from countries where slavery 
was unknown, and by settlers from the East. So their 
sympathies could be aroused by a fight against Slavery in 
the South and thus a political union of these two sections 
prevented. Therefore the slavery agitation was started and 
encouraged — not for any love for the Slave ; but to secure 
to New England and the Manufacturing States of the North 
a continuation of the benefits of the Tariff which was build- 
ing up for them a magnificent prosperity. And as has been 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 39 

said, the passions excited by this AboHtion Party made im- 
possible peaceful and friendly settlement of difficulties and 
thus made the War a necessary result." 

This Abolition Party grew and became popular, strong, 
and finally aggressive. Eventually it amalgamated with 
those whose interests would be benefitted by centralization, 
the remnants of the old Whig party and other elements of 
dissatisfied political parties and the Republican Party was 
born. A party committed to the doctrines of the Abolition- 
ist and to those of centralization. So the fire was "laid" 
and it was ready for the match to be applied. 

Thus was introduced on the political arena the Slavery 
Question. 

The institution of Negro Slavery — Oh ! the pity that a 
most humane condition of peasantry had been given a name 
abhorrent to every freeman — existed practically in the 
South only. It was not established by its people, certainly 
not those living in 1861. They had not brought the African 
savage to their shores, but when placed amongst them, had 
used their labor, as that of a peasantry in the development 
of the land, paying for the same, not in money, but in care, 
food, clothing and comfortable support. At the same time 
the white man christianized, enlightened and humanized 
these ignorant savages from the wilds of Africa. The 
Negro was as well paid as any laborer, for such the world 
over, only earns his keep, which the Negro abundantly re- 
ceived, and they were infinitely better cared for than the 
working class of any nation in the world. Slavery, which 
meant ownership, forced the owner even were he cruel or 
careless to exercise a closer oversight of their necessities 
than the landlord of hired workers. The year 1861 found 
the institution established, and the Southern people had 
been and were obliged to make the best of a condition they 
had inherited, not created. No higher tribute could have 
been paid to the good treatment the negroes had received 



40 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

at the hands of the Southern Whites and to the elevating 
influence upon the race, than when, within an hundred years 
of the time, Avhen the great majority of them had been 
brought, ignorant, brutal savages from Africa, the South- 
ern people had so improved them, that the Republican Par- 
ty, at that time embracing the most eminent and astute 
Statesmen of the Country, thought them worthy of becom- 
ing Voters and citizens of our intelligent and progressive 
country ! The Southern people had raised them infinitely 
higher in an hundred years than they had elevated them- 
selves in the thousands of years they had roamed their 
native wilds ! 

The South objected to the interference of the alien aboli- 
tionist in her domestic affairs. Whether morally correct or 
locally legal, their actions were an invasion of those rights 
which were guaranteed by the Laws of the land. 

The bitter abuse from the Abolitionists excited the peo- 
ple of the North and of the South. They raised a whirl- 
wind, which Lincoln, from the Presidential Chair fanned 
into an overwhelming cyclone. 

Lincoln and his party inculcated the idea that supreme 
sovereignty rested in Washington, and that the withdrawal 
of any State was the destruction of the United States. So 
when the clarion was sounded, the men of the North rushed 
to arms, certainly with high patriotic impulse "to perpetuate 
the Union." They were thoroughly sincere in their convic- 
tion, for without such they never could have performed the 
thousands of deeds of heroic greatness, which will and for- 
ever should blazen the Country's shield of honor. 

So much for the sentimental and apparent influences 
which however only prepared the way, directed public opin- 
ions into such channels, so that when the leaders were ready 
to sound the cry, "To arms ! To arms !" the people rallied 
around the flag. The Northern leaders, thinkers and 
moneyed interests controlHng as they usually do, and par- 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 41 

ticularly in democratic Nations, had other deeper and for 
them more practical reasons to bring on the War. They 
flaunted the flag, but hugged the dollar. They appealed to 
the patriotism of the people, not because of any sentiment 
for the preservation of the Union, but that they might con- 
tinue to rake in the shekels, to be gained by a continuance 
of the discriminations of a sectional and unjust Tariff. 
Stripped absolutely bare and free of the trappings of pa- 
triotic sentiment, which often cloaks and screens human ac- 
tion, the true reason why the North waged war against the 
Southern States, to force them back into the Union was 
that the North needed the Southern trade, and wanted it, as 
it was then, hemmed in by the Chinese Wall of the Tariff. 
This Tariff enabled their Merchants and Manufacturers to 
run their hands deep into the pockets of the Southern peo- 
ple and they were charmed with the jingle of the coin they 
abstracted therefrom. Many instances could be given 
where American manufactured articles were sold in the free 
Markets of England, at half the price at which they were 
sold to the Tariff bound citizen of our own country. If it 
paid to sell to an Englishman a sewing machine at $50.00, 
which was offered to a fellow countryman at $100.00, what 
must have been the profit derived from the Tariff? 

Many sincere Northern patriots will raise their hands in 
holy horror at the statement of absolute facts. They are 
excusable, as they were blinded by the duplicity of their 
leaders then and the manufacturers of partisan history 
since. 

Abraham Lincoln, as the leader of the Republican Party, 
was directly and personally responsible for the War. When 
he was elected his people did not expect or desire war. He 
and those co-operating with him, sounded the War Cry, 
only after having fired the sentiment. At the outbreak of 
the War there were three classes in the North who were 
opposed to the policy of coercion and for differing reasons. 



42 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

These constituted really a majority of the people of the 
North. 

1st. There was the party of radical abolitionists led by 
Horace Greeley, Wendell Phillips and Wm. Lloyd Garri- 
son, who had declared the Constitution and the Union un- 
der it "a covenant with death and a league with Hell." 
These, admitting the right of secession, welcomed it as a 
release from a union with slave holders, a union they 
hated. 

2nd. There was the Democratic Party of the North, of 
whom President Buchanan was a representative and he an- 
nounced the views of his party friends, when he said that 
the Federal Government had no right to coerce the seceding 
States, whatever might be thought as to the right of seces- 
sion. 

3rd. There was a considerable element even of the party 
which elected Mr. Lincoln, including most of his Cabinet, 
who opposed coercion as sure to bring on War, and they 
believed that a policy of concession would ultimately bring 
the Southern States back into the Union. The Northern 
Papers of the period show general opposition to the policy 
of coercion, and this opposition was further voiced in great 
mass meetings held in Northern Cities. Many, probably a 
majority of the people of the North were clearly opposed to 
coercion. 

President Lincoln undoubtedly sincerely believed that co- 
ercion was necessary, and the best for his country. Under 
his guidance, and by his inspiration, the comparatively loose 
bonds which united the States in the early life of our Coun- 
try, were so strengthened and tightened as to make it a 
great cohesive Nation. The constitutionality of this was 
very questionable. But it must be recognized, that the 
Country in its splendid development had outgrown the 
original Federal Union. Unfortunately the South was slow 
in recognizing this. Lincoln's genius grasped the situation 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 43 

and over riding all legal or constitutional obstacles, gave a 
new birth to the Nation and established it on a footing 
stimulating to its future growth and to its world wide in- 
fluence. The old policies, however legal, were overthrown 
and on the ruins of the old Federal Union arose that new 
United States, which we all. North, South, East and West 
cherish and are proud of. It required the genius of a great 
man to accomplish this. 

Yet, while the actions of President Lincoln and the Re- 
publican (liberal) Party brought on the War, the disunion 
in the ranks of the Democratic (conservative) Party made 
possible the election of President Lincoln and the control of 
the Government by his Party. So they are in a large meas- 
ure responsible for the sad results of their disagreements. 

It has always been felt in the South that after the in- 
auguration of President Lincoln, he and his admirers were 
not as open and candid with the various State Commis- 
sioners, sent to him to endeavor to settle matters amicably, 
as such Commissioners expected them to be. Take for ex- 
ample the treatment of the Virginia Commissioners. 

"When the tension was greatest she (Virginia) sent three 
Commissioners to Washington to learn definitely the Presi- 
dent's policy. The Commissioners only reached Washing- 
ton on April 12th. and had the interview on the 13th., the 
day of the surrender of Fort Sumter. They urged for- 
bearance and the giving up of the Southern forts. In an- 
swer Mr. Lincoln read a paper, which, while ambiguous and 
evasive, professed peaceful intentions. He objected to such 
a course in that all goods would be imported through 
Southern ports and so dry up the sources of his revenue, 
but he expressly disclaimed all purpose of war. Mr. Se- 
ward and the Attorney-General Bates gave also to the Com- 
missioners the same assurances of peace. The following 
day the Commissioners returned to Richmond, and the very 
train on which they travelled bore Mr. Lincoln's proclama- 



44 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

tion calling for seventy-five thousand men to subdue the 
Confederate States." 

Lincoln's subsequent greatness, for he was undoubtedly a 
great man, together with the success of his cause, cov- 
ered the bald falsehoods of himself and his advisers with 
the polite term of "diplomacy." When Sumter had fallen 
Lincoln cried, "The Flag has been fired on ! Save the na- 
tion !" The firing on the flag waving over Sumter was no 
new insult. It had previously been fired on when the Star 
of the West attempted to enter Charleston Harbor, carry- 
ing help to Fort Sumter, Jan. 9, 186L It had been pulled 
down disrespectfully from nearly every Federal Fort or 
Arsenal in the South ; the government supplies in these 
Arsenals had been seized, yet neither the people nor the 
government resented these indignities, all equally as great 
as the firing on the Flag waving over Fort Sumter. Did its 
position on that Fort render it any more sacred? Was it 
more sacred because it waved on South Carolina's soil? 
Lincoln, when he came into power, in his first inaugural ad- 
dress does not refer to these acts even as insults. But when 
Lincoln forced the Confederates to fire on Fort Sumter, his 
policy had been matured, and he was ready to launch War 
and used the incident to arouse his people, and to create a 
sentiment in favor of coercion and War. // he had not done 
this there would have been no war. The awful responsi- 
bility then rests squarely upon his shoulders. He illegally 
and in violation of his oath to support the constitution as- 
sumed powers which rested solely in Congress. 

"The evident purpose of the President and his Secretary 
of State was to delay action by the South by fair promises, 
and at the same time to appear as sympathizing with the 
Northern anti-coercion sentiments, until they were ready to 
force the Confederates to bombard Fort Sumter. Then they 
could say "The Flag has been fired on by the Rebels. Rally 
to the defence of the Union." At once with the increasing 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 45 

fury of a mob, large masses of the Northern people took 
up the cry "Save the Union," and charged that the South 
had begun the war on the Union ; while in fact the South 
was only defending herself against an attack which was on 
the way to be delivered." (The Union Fleet at that moment 
had reached the mouth of Charleston Harbor and only bad 
weather prevented an attempt to enter.) "The leaders, 
who cared nothing for the flag, succeeded in inspiring in 
the North a Star Spangled Banner state of mind, which pre- 
vails to this day ; so that as to the War, its history and 
purposes they see everything by the starlight rather than 
by the clear light of day. And Northern historians of the 
War have generally concealed or perverted the facts to the 
utter misrepresentation of the South, her acts and motives. 
* * * That the real aim and purposes of the leaders of the 
party that elected Mr. Lincoln was coercion and war upon 
the South is evident from the fact that while Mr. Seward 
was temporizing with the Southern Commissioners, seven 
of the radical Northern Governors, called War Governors, 
came to Mr. Lincoln breathing out threatenings and 
slaughter, and demanded that he should use the forces of 
the United States to subdue the rebellion, making no con- 
cession to the 'slave power.' " These were Governors of 
States whose citizens were directly concerned in retaining 
the South as a market for their Tariff protected manu- 
facturers and merchants and were among the leaders who 
saw the necessity, from a financial point of view, of "pre- 
serving the Union" and holding large customers in their 
monopolistic grasp. 

To justify the attack on the South, the reason given in 
1861 was "To save the Nation." In response to this and 
patriotically to save their country the Soldiers of the Fed- 
eral Armies rallied around the Flag. They were never 
aware that they were fighting to free the slave. The asser- 
tion is boldly ventured, that not a single man who wore 



46 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

the blue, joined the Army for a crusade to free the Slave. 
Since the War those Veterans and the World have been 
told by manufacturers of partisan history that they did not 
fight to save the Nation, but to free the slave. The freeing 
of the slaves was one of the results of the War, but never 
one of its objects. 

May we calmly consider this, illumined by fact and not 
by the glare of passion or sentiment. 

As to saving the Nation — the Southern States by seces- 
sion did not dissolve the Union, threaten the existence of 
the United States Government, nor interfere with the peace 
and happiness of the peoples of these States which remained 
a part of the old Union. Hence there was no reason to call 
the Nation to arms to "save" what was in no danger. The 
eleven States which withdrew, left the other States in a 
Union unimpaired and so far as its government was con- 
cerned, undisturbed. Horace Greeley wrote, "And if the 
Cotton States shall decide that they can do better out of 
the Union than in it, we insist on letting them go in peace." 
He, a power, controlling and directing one of the most in- 
fluential journals of the Country, and a leader in the Re- 
publican party, evidently did not think that the life and ex- 
istence of the Union was imperilled with dissolution by Se- 
cession, or needed an armed force to preserve. It was not 
so threatened and therefore there was no reason for coercion 
to save it. 

As to the freeing of the Slaves, as a reason for coercion, — 
will be considered under three leading heads. 

(a) The Slave holding States, by withdrawing from the 
Union, relieved the conscientious Abolitionist of the heinous 
sin (?) of living under the same government with the im- 
pious slave holder. So these could not possibly have wished 
to have these States brought back into the Union, forcibly 
or othei*wise ! 

(b) At the Commencement of the War, there was no in- 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 47 

tention, at least none avowed, in fact the contrary distinct- 
ly proclaimed, on the part of Lincoln, his government, or 
his people, to free the Slaves. When, by his proclamation 
of Sept. 22, 1862, Lincoln did illegally attempt to free not 
all the Slaves but those in certain States, which States he 
regarded as disloyal, he did not claim it as an act of phil- 
anthropic humanity, but excused the act as a "military 
necessity." He did not offer freedom to the Slaves of the 
great Federad Hero, Genl. Ulysses S. Grant, but conferred 
this apparent boon upon the slaves of Genl. Robert E. Lee. 
If this act, which has drawn praises from all mankind, was 
as gracious as it is now represented, why was not the free- 
dom given to all the Slaves ? The freeing of the Slaves, for 
the reasons given by Mr. Lincoln, and it is fair to presume 
that Abraham Lincoln knew what he was doing, was a 
monstrous act of inhumanity — which should have drawn 
upon Mr. Lincoln censure, not praise. For military pur- 
poses, it could only mean that he expected that the peaceful 
negroes, who were by their labor, supporting not only the 
women and children at home, but the soldiers in the Armies 
of the Confederacy, would be stirred to deeds of violence 
against those dear women and children, which would draw 
their natural protectors from the front and thus weaken 
the forces of the Confederacy, as well as reduce their sup- 
plies of food. As a military act it could only have been ex- 
pected to have excited the negroes to riot, violence and 
anarchy ! Fortunately with all his wisdom he did not know 
the character of the Negroes. They remained loyal and 
trustworthy to the very end. 

So the freeing of the slaves was not a reason for coercion. 

(c) Moreover, Slavery was doomed in the South, as it 
had been in the North, not because of any wrongfulness, but 
because it was fast becoming industrially unremunerative. 
Slavery at one time, existed in practically all of the orig- 
inal thirteen States. As it became unprofitable, each State, 



48 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

in turn, freed the non-paying slave. The Hmits of their 
profitable employment was moving- Southwards. In 1861 
slave labor could not be profitably employed as far South 
as North Carolina, and was barely profitable in South Caro- 
lina. If the War had been postponed, say for twenty-five 
years, then there would have been but few localities in the 
Cotton States, where slave labor could have been worked 
profitably. In 1860, the value of an able bodifed negro man, 
in his prime, was from $1,500 to $2,000. So it can be readily 
seen that it would be exceedingly difficult to employ his 
labor, to produce even a moderate interest on this amount, 
after deducting the cost of his support, the risks of his life 
and the ultimate loss of it, at the end of his working days. 
When the day did arrive when the Negro could not be 
worked profitably the South would have had to face the 
same problem, as did the Northern States. In the South, 
owing to the vast numbers of the race therein, the settle- 
ment of the problem would have required far greater wis- 
dom. It is of course entirely problematic what such set- 
tlement would have been, but it is sure, being administered 
by a people familiar with the race, that it would have been 
far more just to both races, than that forced upon the 
South after the War, by aliens, entirely unacquainted with 
the conditions, they attempted to settle. And unfortunately, 
animated rather by enmity to the white, than love for the 
Negroes. So it will be seen that Lincoln but anticipated the 
calmer and far better action of time and circumstances. The 
South would have been forced, by industrial conditions, not 
bayonets, within a reasonable period, to have freed its 
slaves. Lincoln was hardly justified in bringing on a cruel 
and devastating War, merely to accelerate by a very few 
years, the natural progress of events. 

We therefore see that the Union was not imperilled by 
secession, and that the freeing of the Slaves was not a rea- 
son for the War. The emancipation of the Slaves, held by 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 49 

a large part of the people was not a sufficient reason, nor 
was it then so considered, to inflict upon the Country a 
bloody War, by the larger part, to force the minority to 
accept the moral and economic standards of the majority. 
In this and in all democratic countries, while the majority 
usually rules, yet the rights of the minority should always 
be respected and protected, not crushed. 

The assigned reasons for the North waging War upon the 
South having been shown not to be the correct ones, we are 
forced to look elsewhere for the true cause. It is, as before 
stated, to be found buried under the patriotic sentiment of 
"Saving the Nation" to have been really and truly an at- 
tempt to "Save the Dollar." The leaders well know, that 
it was the Eagle on the Coin, not that on the Shield, which 
was to be saved and fought for. The colossal manufactur- 
ing interests and the commerce co-relative and dependent 
thereon, embracing the money power of the North and par- 
taicularly of the Eastern and Central States, had for years 
been enjoying a golden harvest under the Tariff Laws. 
The Tariff had expanded from its original object, the pro- 
tection of the few necessary articles, principally clothing 
and War Munitions, which the great free trader, John 
C. Calhoun, approved, to fostering all conceivable manu- 
factures. It became a source of immense revenue, not to 
the people at large, but to the favored few, the manufactur- 
ers. This broadening of the Law to benefit the individual 
had been accomplished by political manipulation, after the 
Northern States — tariff united — had secured a working ma- 
jority in Congress. This most distinctly showed that the 
manufacturing North desired a monopoly of the markets 
of the whole United States, and they were smart enough 
to obtain it. So, when a large part of the agricultural sec- 
tion, whose people were their customers, not competitors, 
withdrew from the grasp of such monopoly by the secession 
of the Southern States, their pockets — not their patriotism. 



50 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

were touched. Persuasion, policy and politics had failed to 
keep these States in the Union, as their customers, so War 
became necessary. This, — not the sentimental or assigned 
reasons, — was what brought on the War. The Northern 
States could not afford to lose the Tariff protected markets 
of the South. The Southern people were too good cus- 
tomers. If this, the re?l underlying reason of the Leaders, 
had been plainly presented to the people, the vast majority 
would have repudiated it with scorn. So the Leaders, Lin- 
coln at the head, with great astuteness, nursed and matured 
the sentiment, that the Union was imperiled and drew mil- 
lions, actuated by the loftiest, but we think mistaken, pa- 
triotism into the hosts marshalled to conquer the South. 

And what a stupendous financial mistake they made ! 

The results of the War freed, not so much the Slave, as 
the White Race of the South. It eased them of a tremen- 
dous industrial burden. The new vigor, which the hard 
circumstances existing in the South during and immediate- 
ly after the War, implanted in the hearts and thereby the 
arms of the men of the South, has strengthened and made 
her a far greater manufacturing and commercial power than 
she ever had been or could have been with the incubus of 
slavery bearing upon her industries. And the South has 
now only started well on this new career. She now com- 
petes successfully with the North in many of her domestic 
and measurably in her foreign markets. Instead of the 
South being held in the North's monopolistic grasp only as 
a buyer, she has become her competitor as a seller and is 
daily becoming more so. The Southern States are no 
longer a market for the exclusive benefit of the Merchants 
and Manufacturers of their Northern sister States, but are 
as surely establishing their industrial independence as they 
failed to maintain their political freedom. If Abraham Lin- 
coln had added to his other qualities as a great leader of 
men, prophetic foresight, he never would have stirred up 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 51 

War against the South, which in spite of her tremendous 
losses, has already partly and will eventually win her in- 
dustrial liberty. The people of the States he bloodily 
forced back into the Union, within the lifetime of many sur- 
vivors of that War, have, with now partial commercial 
independence, regained their political influence and share in 
guiding the destinies of the Nation, which they recognize, 
not as of old, as a Confederacy of Sovereign States, but a 
centralized and consolidated Nation, which they love and 
venerate — their Country, — and are ever ready to shed blood 
and treasure on its support and defence. 

As financial advantage has been shown to have been the 
true reason for the War, it might be interesting to roughly 
calculate what the War cost the North, to bring their err- 
ing (?) Sisters back into the Union. It can then be seen 
how dearly they must have prized their association. Was 
not over seventeen billion dollars a rather high price to pay 
to preserve the Southern Market? 

The actual money expended by the Federal 
and State Governments is said to have 
been $10,000,000,000 

The money value to the Country of 360,000 
Northern Soldiers who were killed or 
died at the low estimate of $10,000 per 
man was 3,600,000,000 

The value of the labor of 2,324,516 men who 
were in the Federal Armies for a period 
of 3 years at an average of $500 per an- 
num per man 3,486,774,000 



The total amount of the cost of the War to 
the North then was the stupendous 
sum of $17,086,774,000 



52 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

The North could hardly have lost this large amount by 
the diminution of the profits of its trade, in dealing with a 
people who had been relieved from the monopolistic grasp 
of its Tariff, by the withdrawal of the agricultural South ! 

In the absence of official or even reliable figures, the 
loss to the South, exclusive of the value of its slave prop- 
erty on a similar basis, is estimated at ten billion dollars. 

Over twenty-seven billion dollars wasted, absolutely 
wasted and by the action of Abraham Lincoln, his coadju- 
tors and the Abolition Party. 

When the War issue was made, practically all of the 
Officers of the United States Army and Navy of South- 
ern birth and principles, resigned their commissions and 
tendered their swords to the seceding States. Captain Rich- 
ard H. Anderson, was then stationed at Fort Kearney, Ne- 
braska, and resigned February 15, 1861, and offered his ser- 
vices to Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, that being 
his native State. They were accepted, and thus he began 
that glorious record of gallantry and skill which carried 
him to the next highest grade of General officers in the 
Confederate Army and gave him rank as the Senior officer 
whom South Carolina offered to the cause of the Southern 
Confederacy. 



Note. — On page 30 the author says : 

"The million soldiers of the Armies of the Confederacy." 
With the utmost deference and only after exhaustive re- 
search and much study, he is forced to believe that the 
usually accepted number of men in the Confederate Army, 
642,000, is far below the true number. The correct num- 
ber he thinks was about one million men. The results of 



GREAT WAR OF SECESSION 53 

the War destroyed all Confederate and most State records, 
so few official figures are in existence, but only the most re- 
liable estimates have been accepted by him as to Confed- 
erate numbers. 

Those who lived in those days well remember that prac- 
tically every able bodied man, in most of the States of the 
South, was under Arms. The number of men of military 
age in the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, 
Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North and 
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia was 1,536,- 
543. These states, except Georgia and South Carolina, 
furnished to the Federal Army 274,311 men, — this left in 
these States, material for the Confederate Army of 1,262,- 
202 men. Add to this the soldiers furnished by Maryland 
and the Indian Territories, claimed as 28,000, which gives a 
grand available total of 1,290,202 men. There were certain 
sections in the Confederacy, the mountains and swamps and 
Southern territory occupied by the enemy, where conscrip- 
tion was not available to procure recruits, and then there 
were others holding Confederate, State and Civil Offices, 
and some exempted to manage the slave population, etc., 
etc. These could hardly have been over 290,200 men, which 
would leave for the Army about 1,000,000 men. 

The various States of the Confederacy claim officially 
and semi-officially, each to have furnished a certain num- 
ber of soldiers. The total of all such amounts to 1,043,000 
soldiers. This substantiates the Author's estimate. 

Further, from the Report of the Confederate Conscript 
Department, ^ee War of the Rebellion Records, Series 4, 
Vol. 3, page 95, it is learned that the six States of Alabama, 
Georgia, Mississippi, North and South Carolina and Vir- 
ginia, up to the close of the year 1863, had enrolled 566,456 
men. If then the Confederate Army was composed of 642,- 
000 men, as usually claimed, the other seven States with 
Maryland and Indian Territories, and the enlistments made 



54 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

in 1864 and 1865 would only have furnished 75,544 men. 
This is unbelievable. Tennessee alone furnished a greater 
number. 

If, to this official number of enrollments is added, say 
15 per cent, for recruits in 1864-1865, and the number of 
Confederate Troops claimed to have been furnished by the 
States not included in this official Conscript Report, the to- 
tal will be 1,190,424 men, — exceeding the one million men 
claimed by the Author, as constituting the Confederate 
Army. 

If with a Confederate Military population, exclusive of 
those who enlisted in the Union Army, of 1,267,202, the 
Confederate States put into its Armies only 642,000 men, it 
becomes a serious reflection upon the patriotism of their 
men. It is well known that the Confederacy "robbed the 
cradle and the grave" to find soldiers for its Armies, so this 
smaller amount is an obvious error. If it were correct, it 
would have left at home about one-half the military popula- 
tion, which would seem an absurdity to the Soldiers on fur- 
lough, who found at home few, but women and children. 
The Union Army had in it first and last, nearly 2,800,000 
men, to whom were opposed 1,000,000 Confederates. The 
odds were great enough to make everlastingly glorious the 
gallantry of the Confederates, who held them at bay for 
four long years. 



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CHAPTER IV. 

What the United States Owes to the Confederacy. 

"O, all-preparing Providence divine, 
In thy large book w^hat secrets are enrolled — 
What sundry helps doth thy great power assign, 
To prop the course which thou intendest to hold? 
What mortal sense is able to define 
Thy mysteries, thy counsels manifold? 
It is thy wisdom strangely that extends 
Obscure proceedings to apparent ends." 

The shot which dropped on Fort Sumter from the Con- 
federate gun on the morning of April 11, 1861, awoke the 
people of the United States, and its echoes will go rumbling 
down all future ages. It changed the destinies of our 
country. It struck ofif the swaddling clothes from the in- 
fant United States and made it, nationally, a man. It made 
a Nation of an agglomeration of State atomies. How little 
did the Confederates realize its import. 

"There's a destiny that shapes our ends. 
Rough hew them how we will." 

The Confederates had purposes, "rough-hewed" perhaps, 
but Providence shaped them otherwise. God knows best 
what is for our good. May the eventualities of the War 
tend for the good of our country. 

The United States owes the Confederacy a huge debt. 



THE NATION'S DEBT TO CONFEDERACY 57 

This debt was the natural evolvement from the act of se- 
cession and the consequent War of coercion. In the de- 
velopment of Nations, events produce results and such re- 
sults are often not such as were intended. The Confederate 
States were moved by a patriotic spirit, in defence of their 
State and popular rights, to withdraw from the Union. 
Such was their intention. The result to the United States 
was to change its government from a federal republic of 
sovereign States into a strong centralized Nation — one far 
better fitted for development and particularly as a World 
Power. The Confederates, of course, did not fight for this, 
but the measures necessary to make the coercive War suc- 
cessful, brought about this result. 

This Nation is now engaged in a worldwide war. Is it 
possible that the old federal republic would have been able 
to do this? It may have repulsed invasion, but it never 
would have been able and most likely not willing to of- 
fensively participate in such a struggle. Had the govern- 
mental methods of 1861 been continued, the Country never 
would have had the ability to take part in a grand uphold- 
ing of the highest right of man — freedom. The secession of 
the Southern States, and the resultant war, by their natural 
evolution, brought about a revolution which has made this 
Nation what it is today. If the old Federal system, de- 
stroyed by the withdrawal of the Southern States, had con- 
tinued in existence, our National weakness would have been 
scoffed at by the great Powers of the World, and this 
Country could never have become a World Power, with a 
great destiny in shaping the fortunes of all mankind. The 
world is today engaged in a terrific struggle for free gov- 
ernment, — the right of the people to govern themselves. 
The very principle for which the Confederates so gallantly 
fought, but alas, had not the strength to defend. The prin- 
ciple lives, though the Confederacy is dead! This strug- 
gle comes of the worldwide advance of progressive ideas. 



58 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

government by the people, for the people, inaugurated by 
our eternal Declaration of Independence. The United 
States is the leading Democracy of the World, and her 
proper place is beside the other great free Nations, strug- 
gling against the socalled "God given rights of royalty to 
rule." How could she have taken this stand without na- 
tional power? That National power was the legitimate 
consequence of the struggle to crush the Confederacy, the 
secession of whose States brought all this to pass. There- 
fore the conclusion is just and correct, that the secession of 
the Southern States was the actuating cause, unintentional 
though it was, of the present virility and grandeur and 
power of the United States. How did this give this won- 
derful material strength? By the development of our il- 
limitable resources, possible only under the changed char- 
acter of our government and so changed by the War. Never 
could the political theories of 1861 have made such results 
possible. All great advances in civilization, culture and 
even religion, have been made in bloodshed. We, of the 
South, have paid a heavy penalty, but it is hoped that our 
children may enjoy the blessings of the vigor, self-reliance 
and self-support which our sufferings have brought to our 
Country. 

So the South has the consolation of knowing that how- 
ever unintentional, their action in seceding, made possible 
the United States of today, and that is the debt the Coun- 
try owes to the Secessionists. 



CHAPTER V. 

His Service in South Carolina and Florida. 

Immediately after resigning from the United States 
Army, Capt. Richard H. Anderson had offered his services 
to his native State. Recognizing his splendid services in 
the old Army, he was appointed Colonel, and placed in com- 
mand of the First South Carolina Regular Infantry Regi- 
ment, a position of high honor and trust. He commanded 
it during the attack on Fort Sumter, April 12 and 13, 
1861, supporting the Artillery at Fort Moultrie and in the 
various Batteries on Sullivans Island. After the fall of the 
Fort, Genl, R. G. M. Dunovant, in command of the South 
Carolina Troops, in his report says : "Colonel Anderson'.^ 
Regiment of Regulars also deserve special notice for the 
good order, spirit and energy which have universally char- 
acterized the command." This "good order, spirit and ener- 
gy" of the newly formed Regiment doubtless sprung large- 
ly from the efficiency of its commander, and was the result 
of his influence, impressed upon his officers and men. 

As one traces the distinguished career of General Ander- 
son, it will be found that these same soldierly qualities were 
ever found in the ranks of every command he held. The man 
stamped them upon all whom he led. He was never spectacu- 
lar, but his solid worth so influenced his followers as to 
make them thoroughly dependable soldiers. One of these, 
who was with him on many a desperate battlefield, later 



60 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

said, "When General Anderson was near, every one felt bet- 
ter and braver." He inspired confidence by his mere pres- 
ence, so well was it known what that presence meant. 

Colonel Anderson was promoted to be Brigadier General 
in the Confederate Army, ranking from May 31, 1861. He 
succeeded General Beauregard in command of the defences 
and forces in the State of South Carolina. His valiant ca- 
reer in the Confederate Army was begun by commanding a 
South Carolina Regiment, and then the whole of his be- 
loved home State. He was not, however, left for long in this 
field of usefulness, but August 21, 1861, was ordered to pro- 
ceed to Pensacola, Florida. He was given a most responsi- 
ble command in the little Army then assembled under Gen- 
eral Bragg, for the defence of that point. 

Fort Pickens, at the point of Santa Rosa Island, guarding 
the entrance to Pensacola Bay, had not been captured by the 
Confederates or the Floridians, when that State seceded, but 
was held by the Federal garrison, which had been rein- 
forced by Wilson's New York Regiment of Zuaves, and 
probably other troops, who were encamped on the Island 
outside of the Fort. 

During the ensuing Fall an expedition was planned 
against the enemy on Santa Rosa Island, in retaliation for 
an attack the Federals had made, destroying the Confed- 
erate Gunboat Judah as she lay moored to a wharf at the 
Navy Yard, which attack was the first engagement in 
Florida. 

The force for the attack on Santa Rosa Island was about 
1,000 men, under the command of General Anderson. It 
was divided into three columns, one led by Col. John K. 
Jackson, who commanded in the city of Pensacola, another 
by Col. Jos. R. Chalmers, and the other by Col. Patton 
Anderson. 

The following extracts are from General Anderson's Re- 
port of the Expedition: 



IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND FLORIDA 61 

"All preparations having been completed, the boats de- 
parted from Pensacola at a little after 12 o'clock (Oct. 
8, 1861), crossed the bay and effected a landing at the 
point which had been indicated by instructions. To ef- 
fectually accomplish the object of the expedition Colonel 
Chalmers was directed to advance rapidly along the north 
beach, Colonel Anderson along the south beach, and 
Colonel Jackson, following a few hundred yards in rear 
of Colonel Chalmers, was to push his command to the mid- 
dle of the island, and deploy it as soon as he should hear 
firing from either of the other battalions or should per- 
ceive from any other indications that the enemy's camp 
was approached or assailed by the other columns. Colonels 
Anderson and Chalmers had been further directed to re- 
strain their men from firing, to capture guards and sentinels 
and to place their commands, if possible, between Fort 
Pickens and the camp of the enemy. Lieutenant Hallon- 
quist followed in rear of Colonel Jackson's battalion, with 
orders to do whatever damage he could to batteries, build- 
ings and camps from which the enemy might be driven. 
After a march of three or four miles, rendered toilsome and 
fatiguing by the nature of the ground, the head of Colonel 
Chalmer's column came suddenly upon a sentinel who fired 
ineffectually at our troops and was himself instantly shot 
down. The alarm having been thus given and it becoming 
impossible to conceal our advance further from the enemy, 
I ordered Colonel Jackson to push his way through the 
thickets to the middle of the island and advance as rapidly 
as possible. The guards and outposts of the Zuaves were 
now rapidly driven in or shot down and the progress of a 
few hundred yards, quickly accomplished by Colonel Jack- 
son, brought him upon the camp of the enemy in advance 
of either of the other battalions. Without a moment's de- 
lay he charged it with the bayonet, but met no resistance. 
The camp was almost entirely deserted, and our troops 



WaS/ 



62 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

speedily applied the torch to the tents, storehouses and sheds 
of Wilson's Zuaves. In the meantime Colonels Chalmers 
and Anderson, advancing along the shores of the Island, 
encountered pickets and outposts, with which they had some 
sharp skirmishing, but quickly beat them off and joined in 
the work of destroying the Camp. This having been most 
thoroughly executed, the troops were reassembled, with a 
view to proceeding against and destroying the batteries 
which lay between the camp and Fort Pickens ; but daylight 
appearing and there being no longer a possibility of a sur- 
prise of the batteries, I directed the signal for retiring to 
be sounded, and the troops to be put in march for the boats. 
At about half way between the Zuave Camp and the point 
of embarkation of our troops we encountered two companies 
of United States regulars, which had passed us under cover 
of darkness and posted themselves behind a dense thicket 
to intercept our retiring column and a very sharp but short 
skirmish ensued. The enemy was speedily driven off and 
our troops resumed their march. The re-embarkation was 
successfully accomplished, and the order given to the 
Steamers to steer for Pensacola, when it was discovered 
that a hawser had become entangled in the propeller of the 
Neaffie and that she could not move." This caused some 
delay but was finally rectified, and the steamers and barges 
all sailed for Pensacola. "The enemy, taking advantage of 
these circumstances, appeared among the sand hills along 
the beach and opened fire upon the masses of our troops 
densely crowded upon our transports, but without doing 
much execution, and we were soon out of reach of their 
rifles." 

General Bragg said of this expedition, that it was a most 
daring and successful feat of arms. "Landing from the 
steamers and flats on the enemy's shore, within sight of his 
fleet, marching some three or four miles in the darkness of 
the night, over an unknown and almost impassible ground, 



IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND FLORIDA 63 

under his guns, killing his pickets, storming his intrenched 
camp of 600 or 700 men, driving the enemy off in utter con- 
fusion and dismay, and burning every vestige of clothing, 
equipage and provisions, leaving them individually in a 
state of destitution, and this under the close range of his 
stronghold. Fort Pickens, without his discovering our ob- 
ject or firing a gun, was an achievement worthy of the gal- 
lant men who executed it." The leaders in this expedition 
all subsequently rose to distinguished rank in the Confed- 
erate Army. Genl. R. H. Anderson became Lieutenant- 
General and commanded a Corps in the Army of Northern 
Virginia. The officers who commanded each of the three 
battalions into which General Anderson had divided his 
force won promotion, Col. Patton Anderson rose to be a 
Major-General, and Cols. Jos. R. Chalmers and Jno. K. 
Jackson each won the spurs of a Brigadier-General. 

The remainder of the year 1861 and until February, 1862, 
General Anderson was at Pensacola. But with the spring 
of 1862 the advance of McClellan into Virginia to capture 
the Capital, called for the gathering of a powerful Con- 
federate Army of defence in Virginia, and he was trans- 
ferred to that field of operations and to a command in the 
Army of Northern Virginia. With that Army he served 
until the Flag of the Confederacy was furled at Appomat- 
tox, with distinguished ability and gallantry, ever mindful, 
as England's greatest laureate said, that "the path of duty 
firmly trod is ever the way to true glory," 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Peninsular Campaign, Including the Battle of 
Williamsburg. 

General Anderson was ordered February 15, 1862, to 
report to Major General Longstreet, who then commanded 
the Second Division, for duty with a South Carolina Bri- 
gade. The Brigade which he was placed in command of, 
was composed of the First South Carolina Regiment, Col. 
Thos. J. Glover, Fourth South Carolina Regiment (which 
was subsequently, April 26, 1861, reorganized as the Fourth 
South Carolina Battalion under Major C. S. Mattison), 
Fifth South Carolina Regiment, Col. John R. R. Giles, 
Sixth South Carolina Regiment, Col. John Bratton, Palmet- 
to Sharp Shooters, Col. Micah Jenkins, and Louisiana Foot 
Rifles, Capt. McG. Goodwyn. This magnificent Brigade 
of gallant Carolinians, during its career, won enduring 
fame, first under General Anderson and then under the gal- 
lant leadership of the distinguished Generals, Micah Jen- 
kins and John Bratton ; a triumvirate of the noblest souls 
whom Carolina gave to the Confederacy. 

At the inauguration of the Peninsular Campaign, the 
Brigade was moved from the Rappahannock to the sup- 
port of Magruder's lines near Yorktown. These lines were 
admirably placed on the divide between the Warwick and 
Poquoson Rivers. On this line the first battle of the War 



PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN 65 

in Virginia had been fought at Big Bethel, June 10, 1861. 
On McClellan's advance, the Confederates retreated to the 
Hnes around Yorktown. The strong water batteries at 
Yorktown and at CJloucester Point closed the York River 
and the Confederate Ram, Virginia, stood guard at the 
mouth of the James River, so the enemy's fleets could not 
ascend either river on the Confederate flanks. 

Lincoln had determined to force the Southern States back 
into the Union. From the very moderate arrangements he 
first made, he evidently did not believe that he had a very 
hard task before him. He must have been considerably 
shocked at Bull Run to find that the 75,000 troops he had 
called to arms could not accomplish the desired results and 
he was forced to make another call. Then the magnitude 
of the work he had undertaken seemed to have partially 
dawned upon him, and his second call was for half a mil- 
lion men. 

When Virginia seceded, the Confederate Capital was 
moved to Richmond, for political rather than military rea- 
sons. But it was there — the Capital of the new born Con- 
federacy — only about one hundred miles from Washing- 
ton, the Capital of the old Union. Politically this might 
have been eminently wise on the part of the Confederate 
statesmen, but from a military standpoint, it is exceedingly 
doubtful, if good judgment would have warranted placing 
our capital on the outflank of the Confederacy. Strategical- 
ly a capital may not be of prime importance in a war, but 
with the conditions existing in the Confederacy, the Capital 
was the heart and from it flowed the life blood which ani- 
mated the entire political body of the country. The value 
of its capital to the Confederacy became very great, and evi- 
dently the enemy appreciated this. Hence the many stub- 
bom, valiant and persistent efforts were made for its cap- 
ture. As the War progressed it became more and more im- 
portant. It is very doubtful, if. had Richmond been cap- 



66 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

tured within a year after the battle of Bull Run, that its loss 
would have been that irretrievable blow it was in 1865. In 
the years 1861 and 1862 the South had recuperative powers, 
but in 1865, exhausted, it had none. Because the Federals 
appreciated the great value of the possession of Richmond, 
they put forth far greater efforts to accomplish this, than 
in any other field. Thus Virginia, between Washington and 
Richmond, especially, became the theatre of the greatest 
struggles of the War and in which both sides put their best 
generals, gave them larger Armies, and equipped those 
armies more efficiently than any other. 

Richmond could be approached by four routes. From 
Ohio, through Western Virginia, via Staunton into the 
eastern part of Virginia, in which Richmond was situated ; 
or by the way of the Shenandoah Valley, and thence over 
the Blue Ridge ; or by the route of the Peninsula between 
the York and James Rivers ; or directly south from Wash- 
ington, along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. All 
of these routes were tried at various times, and hundreds of 
thousands of Federals were sacrificed to reach Richmond, 
and hosts of Confederates laid down their lives in its de- 
fence. The route via Western Virginia was easily closed, 
and no, even approximately, successful movement ever 
reached Richmond or its vicinity by that way. The Fed- 
erals, at times, marched the length of the Shenandoah Val- 
ley, but beyond the barbarous destruction and devastation 
which destroyed the granary of the Army and thus brought 
disaster, accomplished nothing towards reaching Richmond. 
The defeat at Bull Run shut the Federals off from the route 
across the plains of Virginia. Now the Federals were about 
trying another route, via the Peninsula. 

After the most disastrous repulse of the Federals "on to 
Richmond" at Bull Run, McClellan, who had superceded 
McDowell, planned the attack on the capital of the Con- 
federacy by the route over the Peninsula between the York 



PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN 67 

and James Rivers. By April 4, 1862, he had concentrated 
three Army Corps between Fortress Monroe and Newport 
News at the extreme Southern point of the Peninsula. 

Magruder, with his comparatively insignificant force of 
11,000 men, bravely held in check the Federal advance for 
ten days, thus giving Genl. Jos. E. Johnston time to as- 
semble a force to contest his advances and effectively bar 
his way to Richmond. On the 16th April, McClellan made 
a vigorous assault, near the centre of the Confederate lines, 
but was handsomely repulsed, with severe loss, by Ander- 
son's and Cobb's Brigades. 

Genl. Joseph E. Johnston had, April 17, 1862, taken com- 
mand of the Department of the Peninsula and Norfolk. In 
his official report of an inspection made soon after, he says 
he was convinced that the position (at Yorktown) was de- 
fective for many good reasons. He determined to hold his 
position as long as it could be wisely done. Circumstances 
indicated that the enemy was nearly ready on May 3rd, so 
he directed the troops to move towards Williamsburg. On 
this retirement the first decided effort to check the Federal 
advance was made, from the line of intrenchment near 
Williamsburg, on the right of which line was a redoubt 
known as Fort Magruder. The stand of the Confederates 
resulted in the battle of Williamsburg. To General Ander- 
son and the troops under his command and acting by his or- 
ders, was assigned the leading and most conspicuous part. 
He won the highest commendation from Longstreet, who 
was in general command, he saying: "Brig. Genl. R. H. 
Anderson was placed in command at the right, and his dis- 
position of his forces and manner of leading them into ac- 
tion displayed great ability and signal gallantry and cool- 
ness." 

Late in the afternoon of May 4, 1862, in a h.eavy rain 
storm. General Anderson, with his own Brigade and 
Pryor's, Macon's Battery and two guns each under Cap- 



68 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

tains Garrett and McCarthy, of the Richmond Howitzers, 
relieved McLaw's Division, which had previously held the 
position. Anderson occupied Fort Magruder and advanced 
his pickets to cover the junction of the Yorktown and 
Hampton roads. The rain was so heavy that it delayed all 
movements. At daylight on May 5th he occupied the re- 
doubts on the right of Fort Magruder and two of those on 
his left. In the immediate front the timber had been felled 
and to the South of the felled timber was a forest. After 
some skirmishing the enemy made a very heavy attack with 
artillery and a considerable display of his infantry. Gen- 
eral Anderson had been ordered to seize the first oppor- 
tunity to attack the most assailable position of the enemy. 
To this end arranged the forces, which had reported to him 
for duty, placing Wilcox's Brigade on the right of his Bri- 
gade, reinforced by such parts of Pryor's Brigade as were 
not needed in the trenches and ordered up the Brigades of 
A. P. Hill and Pickett to strengthen his right. Subsequent- 
ly Colson's Brigade and the Batteries of Dearing, Stribling 
and Pelham came up. Longstreet says : "The attacking 
columns were well arranged and gallantly led by General 
Anderson and most ably seconded by the gallant Brigadiers 
and other officers. " 

General D. H. Hill, with one of his Brigades, Early's, 
came upon the field and was placed upon the left, and after- 
wards the balance of his Division was brought up. Early's 
Brigade was not actually engaged until afternoon, then it 
made an unsuccessful and very disastrous assault upon the 
enemy. 

The battle on the right front was waxing strong and 
Anderson was gaining ground gradually. He gathered his 
forces near the Federal Batteries, which were annoying 
them considerably, and made a concentrated attack, cap- 
turing four of Webber's guns and forty horses. Colson's 
Brigade now came up and reinforced Anderson and the 



PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN 69 

enemy also received some additional troops. Anderson had 
established his advance skirmishers covering Webber's ad- 
vanced guns. The fresh force of Federals drove back this 
line, when Anderson having been reinforced, recovered the 
ground. The Federals put in the last of their available 
troops, but could not force Anderson back, he firmly held 
his ground, but was not strong enough to attempt further 
aggression. 

In his report General Anderson says : "Captain Strib- 
bling's Fauquier Artillery and Captain Bearing's Williams- 
burg Artillery came up, and took post on our left, where 
they rendered great service against the assaults of the 
enemy on Fort Magruder. On the right the enemy was 
steadily driven from the woods to the fallen timber, in 
which he endeavored to make a stand, but the spirit of 
our men was fully aroused. Step by step, and hour by 
hour they continued to advance and to compel the enemy to 
give ground. All his cannon, except one piece, were sil- 
enced or captured" (of course he refers to that part of the 
battle which he directed) "and victory seemed almost with- 
in our grasp, when night came on and put an end to the 
conflict." 

General Anderson reported his position safe to hold until 
time came for the withdrawal and the continuation of the 
retreat. At dark they were withdrawn and took up the 
march. The pursuit was not active, in fact hardly annoy- 
ing. The object of the battle was to gain time to haul our 
trains to places of safety. General Johnson says of the 
battle : "Had the enemy beaten us on the 5th, as he claims to 
have done, the Army would have lost most of its baggage 
and artillery. * * * Had not the action of the 5th been at 
least discouraging to the enemy, we would have been pur- 
sued on the road and turned by the way of West Point." 

This battle accomplished all or more even than was ex- 
pected. A large part of the glory of the day rests upon 



70 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

General Anderson, for his skillful handling of the troops 
under his command, who bore the brunt of the fight, and to 
the brave officers and men who so gallantly stood by him. 
The men individually had many exciting and wonderful per- 
sonal experiences and escapes. One of the latter is told by 
Capt. J. L. Coker, of Corporal John Kelly, Company E, 
Sixth South Carolina Regiment. Kelly was exchanging 
shots with the sharpshooters of the enemy, when he ac- 
cidentally exposed himself. A ball struck him full in the 
breast, and his comrades near him, seeing how his jacket 
was cut through, thought they had lost one of the brave 
boys. But in his jacket pocket he had a Bible presented to 
him before the War by the Rev. Thomas Law, his Sunday 
School teacher. The ball entered the Bible, but like many a 
man, could not find its way through the whole volume. The 
Good Book saved his life and forever after has been cher- 
ished by him and his children as their most sacred pos- 
session. 

The battle of Williamsburg was the first occasion upon 
which General Anderson exercised an extensive command 
in battle. His leadership, for he led his forces, evidenced 
great personal gallantry, and his consummate skill rendered 
his leadership brilliantly successful. Great credit is due to 
the brave South Carolinians of his Brigade, who when 
General Anderson was given the larger command, were 
commanded by Colonel Micah Jenkins. Not only did they 
valiantly hold their part of the line with grim determina- 
tion, but at a most critical moment turned the tide of battle. 
Longstreet says, "Occasional efforts were made by the 
enemy to regain his lost positions, when a well turned fire 
from Colonel Jenkins, with his artillery and sharpshooters, 
staggered the advancing forces, and our troops" (those on 
the right under Anderson) "soon drove them back." 

In closing his report of the battle, General Anderson 
says, "The fearless bearing, and the unceasing assistance 



PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN 71 

rendered by them requires from me a particular notice of 
the members of my staff. Captain T. S. Mills, Assistant Ad- 
jutant General, Captain Edward J. Means, Acting Aide de 
Camp, and Mr. E. M. Anderson, volunteer Aide de Camp. 
The last of these was my brother. He has given his life to 
his country's cause." In his official report the General 
could not with propriety say more as to his brother's mak- 
ing the highest human sacrifice — his life. He could not tell 
of his grief when his brother fell by his side. He could not 
depict what it cost him to turn from the dear lifeless form 
and resume his imperative duties. Nor could he say how 
terribly heart rending it was to wipe away his tears and 
draw his sword. He had to bury the love and affection of a 
life time in his present attention to his high duties. How- 
ever noble, however much beloved, however gallant may 
that dear brother have been he could not have had a more 
sublime epitaph than the General's words, "he has given his 
life to his country's cause." However, in a personal letter 
to his father the General poured out his heart. He de- 
scribed in detail the wound, a minnie ball entering the right 
temple, passing entirely through his head, giving instant 
death, and the circumstances. He also says, "A most heavy 
affliction has fallen upon you and me and all other members 
of the family in the death of McKenzie. The suddenness 
with which this calamity has befallen us, renders it ap- 
palling. The instantaneous transmission from life and 
health and excited animation to death of one so near to me 
fills me with inexpressible grief and wretchedness. I loved 
my brother with my whole heart, and during the last thirty 
days, in which he has been constantly at my side — his un- 
concealed satisfaction of being with me — his deep interest 
in all that was going on — his eager and cheerful perform- 
ance of all his duties and his constant anxiety that all should 
go well with our country's cause — increased my attachment 
— if indeed anything could have done so." The General 



72 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

visited the remains of his brother, v/hich had been carried 
to the home of Dr. Garrick. "It was here that I, for the 
first time, fully realized the dreadful fact. The hand of 
death was laid upon the face of him whose countenance had 
only a little while before delighted me by its animation, its 
courage, its intelligence and its strong affection. It was the 
most agonizing moment of my life." 

The night of the battle the troops were withdrawn and 
continued the ordered retirement towards Richmond. The 
men had to endure untold suffering on these night marches, 
in the mud, with every discomfort. What one company 
endured during these trying days — of the battle and on the 
march, is most graphically and vividly told by Capt. J. L. 
Coker in his sketch of his company which has been pub- 
lished and thus their fair fame preserved. "Company E, 
Sixth South Carolina Volunteers, was again put on the 
picket line, the enemy being very near to us, indeed we 
could hear their words and every sound they made, in the 
darkness. The survivors will recall General (then Colonel) 
Bratton's explanation, made at our Reunion in 1886, as to 
why he selected Company E for such duties for four suc- 
cessive nights. The explanation was exceedingly compli- 
mentary and gratifying, coming from so observant and 
careful a conimander, but the service was none the less dif- 
ficult." Captain Coker was as modest as General Anderson 
and does not publish that this was because of the great 
confidence Colonel Bratton had in Captain Coker and his 
splendid company. "That night the men could hardly be 
kept awake. It was necessary to go from one to the other 
constantly to see that they did not go to sleep while stand- 
ing on post, so overcome were they with the strain of four 
days and nights of continuous rear guard and picket and 
battle service. Lieutenant Cannon was assigned one end 
of the line of pickets, while I (Captain Coker) took the 
other part of the line, both spending the night in passing 
from man to man, to keep them awake. The other officers 



PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN n 

were left to keep the reserve on the alert. About daylight we 
carefully withdrew, the Cavalry relieving us and sometime 
during the day we overtook our regiment, which had pre- 
ceded us. The men were so exhausted by their long con- 
tinued vigils that they could not keep awake, and some of 
them, while marching along by the roadside, lost them- 
selves in sleep and fell flat upon the ground. When they 
reached their bivouac we enjoyed an undisturbed repose on 
the leaves and clean pine straw." 

This recalls a rather amusing incident of the same char- 
acter occurring in the Western Army. During the manou- 
vres preliminary to the battle of Chickamauga, Manigault's 
Brigade were making one of many all-night marches. They 
were not in immediate contact with the enemy, so any one 
could take a nap — when they could. The mounted ofificers 
had rather the advantage of the foot soldiers, as most of 
them had learned to sleep on horseback. The General, fol- 
lowed by his Staff, was riding at the head of the Brigade, 
and as the day dawned, the Staff, all successively awoke, 
but the General continued his snooze. Presently the road 
ran through a lane, bordered on either side by a worm 
fence, in the corner of which were tempting patches of 
green grass. The General's horse was thoroughly awake, 
and seeing the grass was led from the straight road and 
halted to nibble the luscious meal. The General having 
stopped, his Staff stopped, and the whole Brigade ceased 
marching, and in a jiffy every man dropped by the roadside, 
and some had even begun to snore. The General awoke. 
He realized his ridiculous position and went for his Staff 
for allowing him to stop and not awakening him. His 
Adjutant General defended himself by retorting that it 
would have been unbecoming in him to dictate to his Com- 
mander as to what he should do. The men were sadly dis- 
appointed when they were so soon aroused from their 
needed rest, and with heavy hearts and weary feet moved 
at the command "Forward, March." 



CHAPTER VII. 

Battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks. 

After the Battle of Williamsburg the Confederate Army 
slowly fell back to the Chickahominy, where they formed 
a strong- line on its north side, facing northeast and pro- 
tecting all the roads to Richmond, by which McClellan 
could reach that city. A new line was later taken up, its 
right resting on Drewry's Bluff on the James and extending 
to a point on the Chickahominy, opposite Mechanicsville. 
Meanwhile McDowell, with an army of 40,000 men, was 
moving down from Fredericksburg to co-operate with Mc- 
Clellan. On May 27th Johnston having information of 
this advance of McDowell's, determined to strike McClel- 
lan before these reinforcements could reach him. But Stone- 
wall Jackson's brilliant victory at Winchester forced Mc- 
Dowell to fall back, and the proposed attack on McClellan 
was postponed. However on the evening of May 30th 
Johnston planned another aggressive movement, which led 
to the battle of Seven Pines. His plan of attack was ex- 
cellent, but was not entirely successful, because some of 
his subordinates did not strictly follow his orders. Without 
considering or describing the general plan of the battle or 
what the other commands did or failed to do, we will con- 
fine ourselves to the part taken by General Anderson and 
the troops under his command. 

As at the battle of Williamsburg, but not charged with 



BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES 75 

quite so responsible duties, or so large a command, Gen- 
eral Anderson, in the engagement at Seven Pines, May 31 
and June 1, 1862, commanded other Brigades, together with 
his own. They fought on the right wing, which was under 
the general direction of General Longstreet. General 
Anderson with his own and Kemper's Brigade was put in 
by the front, on the Williamsburg Road. A portion of 
Anderson's Brigade, the Sixth South Carolina Regiment, 
and Palmetto Sharpshotters, both under Colonel Micah 
Jenkins, was sent to the right along the Railroad at the 
Nine Mile Road, to get in rear of the enemy, while General 
Anderson, with the remainder of his command, advanced 
on the immediate left of the redoubt, into the woods, where 
the Federals had retired. The enemy permitted General 
Anderson's troops to get within a short distance of them 
before opening fire. Anderson's infantry replied furiously, 
some artillery opened with an enfilading fire and the enemy 
was soon in full retreat. They were hotly pursued. Ander- 
son reinforced by a part of G. B. Anderson's Brigade of 
Hill's Division, sweeping the left of the road drove brigade 
after brigade of the enemy before them. They captured 
here, two guns, several camps, with their commissary and 
quartermaster's supplies, and finally after dark halted more 
than a mile beyond the Federal main line of works at Seven 
Pines. 

The success of that part of the Confederate attack, in 
which Anderson and his troops had played so very con- 
spicuous a part, seemed to have doomed the left wing of 
McClellan's Army, which was south of the Chickahominy. 
However, Sumner's Corps, in the late afternoon, most op- 
portunely for the enemy, arrived, having crossed the river. 
It was thrown upon the victorious Confederates, checked 
their advance, and in some parts of the field drove them 
back. This reinforcing Corps of the enemy was met by 
the troops under General G. W. Smith, who attacked them 



76 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

with Hampton's, Pettigrew's and Hatton's Brigades. They 
fought with determined courage, General Hatton having 
been killed. General Pettigrew was wounded and taken 
prisoner, and General Hampton was wounded. The gal- 
lantry of these splendid brigades was unfortunately wasted, 
as they failed to accomplish the success their valiant con- 
duct warranted. At seven o'clock General Johnston or- 
dered his troops on the field to sleep on the lines they were 
then occupying. 

At half past seven, General Jos. E. Johnston was struck 
by a minnie ball, and just afterward, badly wounded by a 
fragment of a shell, the Commanding General had to 
be borne from the field so severely wounded that, to the 
great loss of his country, he was incapacitated from duty 
for a very considerable time. General G. W. Smith, the 
next ranking officer, assumed temporary command, but was 
soon relieved. That incomparable hero who was destined 
to lead the Army of Northern Virginia, on many a bloody, 
and ofttimes victorious field, General Robert E. Lee, was 
assigned to the command of the Army. 

The early morning of June ist developed some activity 
in front and on parts of the line commanded by General 
Whiting, but this did not involve Anderson's command. 
General Lee arrived on the field about noon. He was in a 
most trying and delicate position in taking command of the 
Army while in battle, and having comparatively little fa- 
miliarity with the qualities of its officers or its various com- 
mands, he had fallen heir to Johnston's plans, only know- 
ing what they were most superficially. He needed time to 
study the situation and devise those plans which eventually 
drove McClellan's army back to Washington. So, after 
reviewing the situation, he withdrew the Army to their de- 
fences nearer Richmond, from which they had advanced to 
the battle. Thus ended Seven Pines, without conclusive 
victorv or defeat to the Confederates, but with some gain 



BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES 77 

in the capture of six pieces of Artillery, and several thou- 
sand rifles — but at the heavy cost of about 4,800 men. 

It was in his fights in this battle that General Anderson 
gained the soubriquet of "Fighting Dick" Anderson. Dur- 
ing the advance of his command he was told that the enemy 
was to be seen in his front. "Press them!" he orders. They 
were next pointed out on his right, "Press them !" he or- 
dered. They appeared on his left, "Press them!" cried An- 
derson, and his gallant men responding, did bravely "Press 
them" and drove them from the field. 

General Longstreet in his report says ; "The severest part 
of the work was done by Major General D. H. Hill's Divi- 
sion, but the attack of the two brigades under General R. H. 
Anderson, one commanded by General Kemper and the 
other" (Anderson's own brigade) "by Colonel Micah Jen- 
kins, was made with such spirit and regularity as to have 
driven back a most determined foe — this decided the day in 
our favor." Very complimentary to General Anderson ! The 
two brigades under his command, one of these his own South 
Carolina Brigade, was handled with such skill and led with 
such gallantry that they "decided the day in our favor." 

It is not often that a Brigadier General can or does by 
his ability and the character of his troops, decide the fate 
of a great battle. Brigadier General Richard Heron Ander- 
son did this at Seven Pin es ! 

His distinguished services at Seven Pines, after equally 
good work at Williamsburg, won for him the recognition 
and the high approval of his superior Officers. For his 
conduct in the latter battle, General Longstreet commended 
his "great ability and signal gallantry and coolness." Now, 
after Seven Pines, General Joseph E. Johnston calls the 
especial attention of the government at Richmond to Gen- 
eral Anderson, who had so well exercised command above 
his official grade. His promotion to be Major General, 
which followed very soon, was the reward not of any per- 



78 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

sonal partiality or political influence, but of his substantial 
merit, conspicuously displayed, while performing the duties 
of a Major General upon both of these battlefields on 
which he fought in Virginia, and in which commenced his 
honored career in the Army of Northern Virginia. 

Among the South Carolinians of Anderson's Brigade was 
one who rivalled his chief in bravery, Colonel, afterwards 
Brigadier General John Bratton, commanding the Sixth, 
South Carolina Regiment. It has been said of him, that he 
had the luck of being wounded whenever he went into a 
fight. An exaggeration, of course, but his many wounds 
gave some color to the story. All this, however, was not a 
matter of luck or fate, but because his undavmted gallantry 
led him to constant personal exposure. He was always in 
the thickest of the fight, like that officer of whom it was said 
that if you wanted to find him in a battle, go to the front. 

At Seven Pines he was wounded and Major J. L. Coker 
tells very amusingly of the Colonel's luck when so disabled. 
He says, "While forming a new line in the fielld" (on the 
advance of Anderson as narrated above) "and among the 
tents of a Pennsylvania Regiment my attention was called 
by Sam Nettles to a pair of boots showing themselves from 
under a pile of knapsacks ; the suspicious boots were taken 
hold of and pulled out and were found to be on the feet 
of a Yankee Captain (Captain John D. McFarland, 102nd 
Pennsylvania Regiment). On demand he quickly gave me 
his sword and his pistol was found under the cover, where 
he was lying, as he hoped, concealed. I sent him to the 
rear in charge of Jack Gandy, who had just then been 
wounded. Gandy fell in with the wounded Colonel Brat- 
ton, who could not walk without help, and the three went 
off together. Somehow or other they took the wrong di- 
rection, the Pennsylvania Captain vainly trying to convince 
them of their error and Colonel Bratton, with Gandy and 
another wounded Confederate (Boyce Simmonton, Com- 



BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES 79 

pany G, Sixth South Carolina Regiment), with the prisoner, 
persisted they were right, walked straight towards the rail- 
road and into the Yankee lines." The doughty Colonel 
was surely in bad fortune, not only to be wounded, but to 
find himself captured. 

From General Bratton's address to the Sixth South Caro- 
lina Regiment on the battlefield of Seven Pines, August 
6, 1885, the following is extracted, bearing upon General 
Anderson and then upon the gallantry of that splendid Regi- 
ment of South Carolinians, of which General Bratton was 
then Colonel. 

"Just then General Anderson rode up and conducting 
him a few paces to the front, I pointed out the situation ; the 
abattis or 'slashings' on slightly declining ground were 
much wider and more formidable than the first, with a thick 
growth of scrubby trees, on the other edge, screening com- 
pletely what might be there. By this time not an enemy 
was in sight, not a gun was being fired in my front. Gen- 
eral Anderson quietly said, 'Move your regiment across 
the abattis and take position on that crest beyond,' point- 
ing towards it, and added, "unless you jump the game on the 
way." Feeling sure that it would be jumped on the other 
edge of the slashing I asked, what then? He answered, 
"Press them." I told him that embarrassment as to my 
flank and rear had prevented me from crossing the abattis 
pretty much with them, at least in due pursuit, and asked 
if I should succeed again, will you look to flank and rear? 
His answer was, "Press them." We at once entered the abat- 
tis, the Fifth Regiment, Colonel Giles, moving with us on 
our right. I did not see where the (Palmetto) Sharpshoot- 
ers (Col. Jenkins) went. When about half way across, a 
grand volley was poured upon us from the thicket beyond, 
and although nobody cried "Lie down," the entire regiment 
squatted involuntary in the brush. As the crash of the vol- 
ley died away I shouted "Forward!" but none seemed to 



80 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

hear it save our color bearer, and before it could be re- 
peated the noise and rattle of the regular battle fire opened 
upon us and drowned human utterances. He advanced on 
and over the obstructions, as he could not move under even 
the highest without lowering his colors, alone, with a stride 
unnaturally steady, considering the character of his foot- 
ing. None who saw it can ever forget the splendid picture 
presented by our glorious and handsome boy, John Rabb, 
on this occasion. Never were colors borne with a loftier 
devotion to duty or a quieter disdain of danger. He ad- 
vanced thus alone, nearly half way to the enemy, and it 
looked as though our colors would be handed over to them, 
when our entire regiment seemed simultaneously to take in 
the situation and made a desperate rush to overtake him. 

Our line poured like a wave over and under the obstruc- 
tions, and coming up with the colors, continued the im- 
petuous advance until we swept over them. What mag- 
nificent gallantry ! Write high on the roll of fame, the name 
of John Rabb ! 

Another story of Seven Pines. An old Virginia couple 
were at home when they heard of the Battle of Seven Pines. 
The good old Mother was mourning over her Son John who 
was in the battle. The grey haired Father asked her why 
she bemoaned for John only, when she had another boy, 
Henry, in the same fight. "Oh !" she said, "I know Henry, 
and there were Seven Pines on that battlefield and I am sure 
Henry got behind one of them Pines and would not be 
hurt." 

Protecting oneself in danger recalls another story, but 
not of the same battle or army. After a hot battle, a private 
was reported to the Colonel, for not behaving properly in 
the fight. The Colonel had him up at headquarters and 
gave him a very serious talk and told him that he did not 
wish any man in his Regiment to be Court Martialed for 
failing in his duty in the face of enemy. So he would give 



BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES 81 

the said private another chance and in the next battle he 
would watch him and if he behaved all right, the past 
would be forgiven, otherwise he would have to have him 
punished. Six days after, the Regiment was engaged 
in another Battle and as it advanced to the charge, the 
Colonel remembered his promise and went down to the 
man's company to see how he was behaving. He was 
found in ranks, going steadily forward with the line, his 
rifle on his right shoulder and with his left hand holding 
before his face, endeavoring to protect himself with it, a big 
frying pan. The poor fellow was a few minutes thereafter 
killed, and the Colonel severely wounded, so there was no 
Court Martial. But the incident showed the highest moral 
courage of the soldier. He was so scared that he tried to 
protect himself with the only available object, the mess 
frying pan, which he carried, yet he maintained his posi- 
tion in the charging line, amidst a storm of bullets, moving 
across an open field, until his death knell came from one of 
those minnie balls he was so gallantly facing. 

It is a pleasure to renew one of the thousands of in- 
stances of gracious liberality and true Christian spirit 
which actuated many of those who were so bitterly con- 
testing. It is an additional gratification, as this was ex- 
tended by a Federal General, Phil ^earaey, to our own 
brave Colonel Bratton. As stated before, the Colonel had 
been wounded and had fallen into the hands of the enemy. 
While thus situated he received the following letter : 

"Camp near Fair Oaks, Va. 

"June 10, 1862. 
"Dear Sir,— 

"The fortunes of this unnatural war have made you a 
prisoner, and it was in the hands of one of my regiments 
(Fourth Maine, Colonel Walker), that you fell. I take the 
liberty, in courtesy and good feeling, of putting myself or 
friends at the North at your disposal. 



82 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

"I forward by a special messenger your sword, belt and 
watch together with a letter from the Surgeon, Dr. Gesner, 
who attended you, who is an acquaintance of your family 
at the South. 

"If, Sir, you will permit me the favor, I also place at 
your call a credit with my bankers, Riggs & Co., Wash- 
ington, $200, which may serve you until your own arrange- 
ments are made. 

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

P. Kearney, 
Brig. Genl. Comdg. 3d Division, Third Corps. 

"Colonel Bratton, Sixth South Carolina Regiment." 




Sword Presented by the State of South Carolina to 
Capt. Richard H. Anderson 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Battle of (First) Cold Harbor or Gaines Mill. 

While the battle of Seven Pines was being fought and 
subsequent thereto, Stonewall Jackson was conducting his 
brilliant campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. But the ab- 
sence of his Corps and the personal influence and judgment 
of the redoubtable hero was felt by General Lee. As 
Jackson had completed his work in the Valley, General Lee 
determined to call him and his men back to the Army de- 
fending Richmond, which, since the battle of Seven Pines 
had been quietly lying between Richmond and McClel- 
lan's hosts. By the 25th of June, Jackson's forces had 
reached Ashland and were within easy reach of Lee and 
his army. Lee marked the commencement of his career, 
in command of a grand army by "a stroke brilliant in its 
boldness." This was, after a month's quiet, to make an ac- 
tive assault on the enemy, who were or should have been the 
aggressive actors. This resulted first in the battle of Cold 
Harbor and ended with driving McClellan to his new base 
at Harrison's Landing. 

On the early morn of June 27, 1862, the advance on Me- 
chanicsville showed that the enemy had retired during the 
night. The continued advance of the Confederates, at 1 
o'clock, developed the Federals strongly posted on the high 
ground behind Powhite Creek. Longstreet rested his men 
until the balance of the Army came up. When all was ready, 



84 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

the battle was opened by A. P. Hill, Longstreet being in 
rear and in reserve, awaiting orders. About 5 o'clock a 
message reached him from General Lee, asking him to 
make a diversion against the enemy. The Brigades of 
Anderson, Pickett and Kemper under command of Ander- 
son, were sent to threaten the enemy's left from the forest 
edge, to fire, but not to cross the open ground. These Bri- 
gades engaged steadily, and portions thereof in their 
ardour essayed to cross the field, but were recalled and the 
order repeated to fire, but not to assault. Meanwhile along 
other parts of the line of battle, efforts were being made to 
find a weak spot which could be forced. This general as- 
sault had not met the result which General Lee hoped for. 

A little before sunset Captain A. P. Mason of General 
Lee's Staff, dashed up to Longstreet bearing a message from 
General Lee that "all other efforts had failed and unless 
he could do something the day was lost." This seemed to 
have struck the right man, who had Lieutenants who could 
do what they dared, and he at once made the efforts, which 
saved the day. Anderson and Pickett were ordered to make 
a determined assault, Kemper being held in reserve. Just 
as these Brigades advanced. General Whiting of Jackson's 
Corps, came up with a rush bringing his Division com- 
posed of Law's and Hood's Brigades. He told General 
Longstreet that he had lost sight of General Jackson in the 
forest and asked him to put his command into battle. 
He was ordered to move to the left of Anderson and 
Pickett. As the attacking forces reached the crest of the 
hill, they came into the full blaze of battle, but gallantly 
dashed through the open and down the slope of the run and 
up the hill, driving the enemy before them. 

Longstreet in his report says : "Our gallant officers and 
men moved forward in the face of three lines of infantry 
fire, supported by batteries from both sides of the Chicka- 
hominy, the troops moving steadily on under this terrible 



BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR 85 

fire, drove the enemy from his positions one after another, 
took his batteries and finally drove him into the swamps 
of the Chickahominy." In the same report he also says : 
"There was more individual gallantry displayed upon this 
field than any I have ever seen. Conspicuous among the gal- 
lant officers and men were Brigadier General R. H. Ander- 
son, and Colonel Micah Jenkins. 

Whiting's Division drifted off to its left, but a part of 
Hood's, under his indomnitable leadership, came up on 
Anderson's left, closing the interval, keeping up with Ander- 
son's advance, with Whiting following in close eschelon. 
Anderson's, Pickett's and Hood's Brigades captured the 
enemy's stronghold and moved in pursuit of the broken 
Federal lines, coming within easy musket range and almost 
in possession of the enemy's massed reserve artillery. Just 
then a dash of a heavy cavalry force required a formation 
to resist it, delaying the advance and giving the enemy 
time to move off his guns. Now, an advance on all parts 
of the Confederate line caused the break of the enemy along 
their entire front and a prompt retirement from the field. 
It was fortunate for them that night so soon threw its shel- 
tering arm on the field and saved them from rout. 

Many of the Confederate commanders claimed credit for 
having made the first break in the enemy's lines, "but the 
solid ranks of prisoners delivered to the provost guard and 
the several batteries captured and turned in to the Ordnance 
Department, show this breach to have been made by the 
columns of Anderson, Pickett and Hood's two regiments." 

Captain James A. Hoyt, Company C, Palmetto Sharp- 
shooters, gives in the Greenville Mountaineer, April 26, 
1899, a most graphic account of Anderson's Brigade in this 
battle. From it the following is condensed : 

"In going forward with the assault, Anderson's Brigade 
was on the extreme right of the Confederate line and dashed 
down the slope into the ravine, above which was the enemy's 



86 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

batteries and lines of infantry with temporary entrench- 
ments. Anderson pressed up the steep ascent across the ra- 
vine and met with bitter resistance, although under a con- 
stant fire, while the battle was raging on his left, where 
Hood's and Pickett's Brigades were engaging the Federals. 
We pressed to the front in pursuit of the broken lines which 
were being forced towards the main body of McClellan's 
Army. 

General Anderson, with the gallant Sixth, the Second 
Rifles and the Fourth Battalion moved straight forward 
for several hvmdred yards, and after we reached the open 
on the crest of the hill and he had directed Colonel Micah 
Jenkins of the Palmetto Sharpshooters to take his own com- 
mand and the Fifth South Carolina under Colonel Jack- 
son and move towards the Chickahominy, in order to pro- 
tect the right flank of Lee's Army. Colonel Stockton with 
the Fifteenth Michigan and Eighty-third Pennsylvania had 
been completely cut off by our movement and came from 
the wood. In a few minutes the head of the column was 
visible to the Palmetto Sharpshooters, a hundred yards 
down the hill. Their flags were furled and too indistinct to 
know whether they were friend or foe. Colonel Jenkins 
demanded to know what troops they were, to which no re- 
sponse was made. Jenkins' troops had been faced to their 
right. Their column was not more than fifty yards in our 
front marching by the flank, while our men were at the 
ready and as the head of the column came in front of our 
Color Company, the officer in command broke the silence 
by saying, "Halt! Front!" to which Jenkins replied "Fire!" 
and our volley made deadly work in their ranks. They 
quickly returned the fire, when Jenkins ordered the charge, 
and in a few minutes the incident was over and the enemy 
was ours. The Fifth South Carolina and the Eighty-third 
Pennsylvania had a similar experience, resulting the same 
way." 



BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR 87 

"The history of Company C, Sixth South CaroHna Volun- 
teer Infantry," a command then in General Anderson's Bri- 
gade, is so full of accounts illustrating the life and deeds of 
the subordinate officers and privates that it will add inter- 
est to this story and show the character of the men whom 
General Anderson had the good fortune to lead, and also 
something of those whom they had to combat, that quota- 
tion is made. 

"At this battle we found some of the enemy wearing 
breast plates ; these were of steel, strapped on securely to 
protect the body from small arms. An Irishman of Cap- 
tain Cantey's Company took one of these from a dead offi- 
cer and offered it to General Jenkins, who declined it, but 
suggested to the soldier to use it for his own protection. 
This advice was taken, and at the next battle a bullet struck 
the breast plate, glanced and wounded the man's arm. 
Without this protection Cantey's Irishman would probably 
have been killed. However, these heavy and clumsy af- 
fairs were soon discarded by the Federal troops and we 
did not see them later. At this battle every Yankee soldier 
seemed to have plenty of whiskey, the fumes of it filled the 
air, and their canteens were redolent of its odors." 

A fright was innocently and ridiculously perpetrated by 
Lieutenant Cannon of the Company, which he tells as fol- 
lows : 

"Colonel Steedman and Ed. Sumner had asked me to get 
them a canteen apiece if I came across any. As we passed 
the post at a run" (forward of course), "I snatched three 
from a limb, hung two around my neck and called to Ed. 
Sumner (he being near the right of our company), threw 
the canteen to him. As he saw this harmless missile com- 
ing directly to him and believing my calling a warning to 
save himself, the canteen and strap whirling in the air was 
converted into a death dealing shell, with proper range 
and fuse nearly burnt out ready to burst. He executed 



88 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

some manoeuvers in the way of dodging that would have 
put to shame the acrobat of a first class circus. All of us 
who witnessed it enjoyed the little diversion. Afterwards 
he told me he was worse frightened than he was at any 
time during the war." 

Showing that Generals were not immune from surprises. 
Lieutenant Cannon further tells : 

"General Wilcox" (whose brigade had just come up) 
seeing me on an elevated position behind a large tree, dis- 
mounted and asked me, "Can I get a view of the enemy 
from your position ?" I told him he could. He scarcely had 
time to get in position when a shot from the enemy struck 
the tree. General Wilcox appeared to be suddenly satis- 
fied as he tumbled from his position to a safer place below. 
I asked him if he got a good view? He replied 'too good 
for me,' and then ordered the line to charge." 

The following shows what straits our surgeons were of- 
ten reduced to : "Lieutenant Cannon had been wounded, and 
making his way as best he could to the rear, met a comrade 
and a doctor. He soon had a litter and I was carried back 
to the house we had driven the pickets from in the morn- 
ing. Here our surgeon. Dr. Foster, took a slat from an old 
rotten garden fence, broke it across his knee, and splintered 
my leg." 

The number of Federal prisoners and the several cap- 
tured batteries which Longstreet turned over to the proper 
army official shows the breach in the line to have been first 
made by the attack of Anderson's and Pickett's Brigades 
and the two Regiments of Hood's Brigade. They had 
nobly responded to General Lee's request "to do something" 
and prevented the day from being lost. Again Anderson 
and his South Carolina Brigade, with their gallantry and 
untiring devotion "had decided the day in our favor." 

But they had no monopoly of bravery, neither did Ker- 
haw's or Gregg's, but South Carolina chivalry was per- 



BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR 89 

sonified by the coolness and desperate bravery of Maj. John 
C. Haskell. He was a Division Commissary, and had no 
business on the fighting line. But he was gallantly assist- 
ing Gen'l. D. R. Jones, on whose Staff he served. He car- 
ried a message from General Jones to General Longstreet, 
and at his orders remained with him on his Staff tempo- 
rarily. General Longstreet says, "Upon his first field, his 
conduct would have done credit to any distinguished vet- 
eran." General Whiting in his report says, "Though not on 
my Staff, I would not do right were I not to mention here 
the chivalrous daring of young Major Haskell, of South 
Carolina. His personal bearing in a most deadly fire, his 
example and his directions contributed not a little to the 
enthusiasm of the charge of the Third Brigade" (E. M. 
Law's), "I regret to say that the brave young officer re- 
ceived a terrible wound from a shell (losing his arm), but 
walked from the field as heroically as he had gone into the 
fire." South Carolina should ever be proud of this and 
of all her glorious sons. 

Maj. Ed. N. Thurston, the close friend, and later, a 
trusted Staff Officer of General Anderson, tells of him the 
following most interesting incident, showing General 
Anderson's personal bravery, and his confidence in the gal- 
lantry of the South Carolinians of his Brigade: "At Gaines' 
Mill he won new laurels ; late that afternoon his Division 
Commander approached him and said, 'My part of this work 
has not been accomplished and I have nobody to do it with 
but you,' referring to the hard duty already described as 
performed by the brigade. The reply was, "Well, General, 
what is it you want done?' and the answer, "The enemy 
must come off that hill before night !' and his cheerful re- 
sponse, Tf any brigade in the army can do it, mine can,' 
and it was so handsomely done that General Lee, who was 
an eyewitness, congratulated him the next morning." 

Lee appealed to Longstreet, "All other efforts had failed, 



90 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

and unless he could do something the day was lost." Long- 
street called on the trustworthy Anderson to "do some- 
thing" and Anderson did it magnificently. It was the turn- 
ing point of the battle which ended in the complete defeat 
of McClellan's hosts ! All brought about by Anderson and 
his noble men. 

Lee followed up his victory and pressed back McClel- 
lan. A comparatively small battle was fought at Savage 
Station, one of the Seven Days Battles around Richmond ! 
Anderson, however, was not engaged therein, so it need 
not be referred to in this history of his life. The general 
manoeuvers of the Army are here only related when neces- 
sary to clearly eliminate those movements in which Ander- 
son and his command took active part. This does not pre- 
tend to be the story of the Army of Northern Virginia, but 
of General Anderson. Some battles and many affairs of 
that Army will be found omitted here for that reason. But 
not many eminent battles, because Anderson was in nearly 
all of them. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Battles of Frayser's Farm and Malvern Hill. 

At daybreak on June 29, 1862, Lee took up the further 
pursuit of McClellan's forces. General Longstreet, includ- 
ing General Anderson's command, crossed the Chickahom- 
iny at New Bridge, opposite to which they had bivouacked 
the preceding night, and was ordered to march southward 
on the Darbytown road to the long bridge, until he should 
strike the right flank of the retreating enemy. At about 
4 P. M. the enemy's rear guard made a stand at Savage 
Station and were vigorously assaulted by Magruder's ad- 
vancing troops. The Charles City cross roads, the inter- 
section of several important highways, as well as many 
country roads was a most vulnerable point in McClellan's 
line of retreat, so Lee bent every energy to there strike the 
blow. But the pursuing Confederates met all kinds of ob- 
stacles, preventing their rapid movement, so the day passed 
without decisive results for them. The morning of June 
30th found McClellan's entire army and trains safely across 
the White Oak Swamp and his troops in line of battle to 
meet the pursuers. General Lee had planned a general en- 
gagement but "the best laid schemes of mice and men gang 
aft aglay," and the only Confederates actively engaged were 
of Longstreet's column, composed of his own Division, com- 
manded by Gen'l. R. H. Anderson and Gen'l. A. P. Hill's 
Division ; the former in front and the latter in reserve. Gen- 



92 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

eral Huger's Division was on his left and those of Ma- 
gruder and Hohiies on his right. They were to co-operate, 
but failed to do so. 

General Lee and President Davis were both at General 
Longstreet's headquarters. A Federal battery opened fire 
on the same, and a shell therefrom exploded so near as 
to wound a courier and kill several horses. Rather a nar- 
row escape for the chief of the struggling young Con- 
federacy and for the Commander of the Army defending its 
capital. 

Just as this took place, about 4 P. M., artillery was heard 
in General Huger's direction, which was erroneously taken 
by Longstreet as the agreed signal for the general attack. 
General Anderson, commanding Longstreet's Division, was 
ordered to make the advance and assault. In front of Jen- 
kins, commanding Anderson's Brigade, was a battery, which 
he was ordered to silence with his sharpshooters. This did 
not satisfy the impulsive Jenkins so he led his Brigade for- 
ward, charged, drove back the enemy's supporting infantry 
and captured the battery. The whole Division now be- 
came engaged. The attack was successful for a time, but 
heavy reinforcements coming up, Anderson's right was 
pushed back and his left checked and hard pressed. Gen'l. 
A. P. Hill's Division was ordered up and restored the line 
to the first aggressive position Anderson had gained. Mc- 
Call's Federal Division had been driven back and General 
McCall captured in the first attack, and when A. P. Hill 
came up, the ground was held against three other Federal 
Divisions, gaining ground forward and holding it to the 
end of the struggle. The battle lasted until well into the 
night, the Federals leaving the field under the cover of dark- 
ness, to take their places on Malvern's Hill, the final stand 
of McClellan before reaching his new base on the James 
River. In his report of this battle. General Longstreet men- 
tions as distinguished for gallantry and skill, among a very 



FRAYSER'S FARM AND MALVERN HILL 93 

few others, Gen'l. R. H. Anderson and Col. Micah Jenkins. 
Good for South Carolinians ! 

At Malvern Hill, Longstreet's Division was held in re- 
serve and took no active part in that bloody and unfortunate 
affair. We need not, therefore, in detail dwell upon that 
battle. There the enemy was in a magnificent defensive 
position, and all the devoted gallantry of our troops failed 
to make the desired impression on his lines. If the Con- 
federates had held this position, they could have remained 
there to this day. But McClellan seemed to have lost con- 
fidence in the ability of his troops to further withstand the 
heroic attacks of the Confederates and gave up the position 
during the night. He left his dead unburied, his wounded 
to the care of the Confederates and quantities of valuable 
stores for their benefit. He retreated to a strong position 
at Harrison's landing, under the protection of his gunbeats. 
His army was later transported to Washington. 

Thus ended McClellan's effort to capture Richmond by 
the Peninsular route, and it was never tried again. It may 
be idle to speculate on what might have been. A review of 
the conditions of the Confederate and Federal forces, as 
known now, clearly indicate that the Confederacy was in a 
most critical position, after the wounding of Johnston, at 
Seven Pines. Not only because of the positions of the as- 
saulting and defending forces, but the change of command- 
ers, at this acute moment, checked their movements for 
some days, and thus any fruits of victory at Seven Pines 
were lost. Lee had come to the supreme command unpre- 
pared, and he had to grasp the situation and mature his 
plans before commencing active hostilities. It is probable, 
if McClellan had been a man of more aggressive character 
and with greater self-reliance, that he would have cap- 
tured Richmond, rather than have fallen back to Mechanics- 
ville. This is said because "on the morning of June 28th he 
had 105,000 men, more than two-thirds of whom had not 



94 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

been engaged the day before and that between him and 
Richmond was only a force under Magruder and Huger, 
about one-fourth the size of his, while two-thirds of Lee's 
army was still north of the unbridged and unfordable 
Chickahominy (for McClellan had destroyed all bridges af- 
ter crossing the river and swamps), and further from Rich- 
mond than his own. Here was an opportunity for a bold 
Captain to have captured the Confederate Capital by a 
prompt and vigorous assault and accomplish the object 
of his grand campaign. But McClellan was not such a 
leader and he knew it." How history would have been 
changed, if McClellan had seized his opportunity ! McClel- 
lan, not Grant, would have been the great Federal hero, and 
the struggle of the Confederates would probably have end- 
ed long before it did. Not that the material loss of Rich- 
mond would have been so disastrous, but the moral effect 
of its loss and more particularly the defeat of the Army 
defending it, would have been a blow from which the Con- 
federacy could hardly have recovered. Or might it have 
aroused the Confederates as their fortunate failure at Bull 
Run awoke the Federals? At that time the Confederates 
had recuperative powers, which later were exhausted. 



CHAPTER X. 

North Virginia Campaign of 1862 and Battle of 

Manassas. 

After the battles around Richmond the Army rested 
quietly for several weeks, recuperating from the wearying, 
strenuous, but glorious efiforts made to save the Capital. 
They had not only done this, but in doing it, had driven 
back in utter defeat the splendid Army of McClellan. 

General Lee published the results of this campaign and 
its successful ending to his Army in a General Order, in 
which he said : 

"The immediate fruits of our success are the relief of 
Richmond from a state of siege ; the rout of the great army 
that so long menaced its safety ; many thousand prisoners, 
including officers of high rank ; the capture or destruction 
of stores to the value of millions ; the acquisition of thou- 
sands of arms and forty pieces of artillery. The service 
rendered to the country in this short but eventful period 
can scarcely be estimated, and the general commanding 
cannot adequately express his admiration of the courage, 
endurance and soldierly conduct of the officers and men 
engaged. These brilliant results have cost us the loss of 
many brave men, but while we mourn the loss of our gal- 
lant dead, let us not forget that they died nobly in defence 
of their country's freedom and have linked their memory 
with an event that will live forever in the hearts of a sfrate- 



96 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

ful people. Soldiers, your country will thank you for the 
heroic conduct you have displayed, conduct worthy of men 
engaged in a cause so just and sacred and deserving a 
nation's gratitude and praise." 

Oh ! that these glorious warriors had gained what Lee 
thought they so richly deserved. It was true, as he said, 
that they "deserved" a nation's gratitude. But have they 
received what they so richly deserved? Had they, General 
Anderson and thousands of his compatriots would never 
have found that "a nation's gratitude" was not worth the 
price of a loaf of bread. 

As to the immortal Lee it was said, "In leading them to 
conquer their foes, he had conquered their lasting admira- 
tion and devotion, and henceforward, whether in victory or 
defeat, their confidence in Lee continued unchanged, as it 
will continue among their descendants and their people to 
the last syllable of recorded time." 

Maj. Jed. Hotchkiss, from whom the quotation is made, 
was a better prophet than Lee. Lee's fame has outlived 
the gratitude of his people, for the loyal devotion of his 
men. 

General x\nderson received his well merited promotion 
July 14, 1862, and was assigned as Major General, to the 
Division previously commanded by General Huger. At 
that time the Division was composed of the Virginia Bri- 
gades of Mahone and Armistead and the Georgia Brigade 
of Wright and six Batteries of Artillery. Subsequently 
there was added the Brigades of Wilcox (Alabama), 
Featherstone (Mississippi), and Pryor (Alabama, Florida 
and Virginia). Two of the batteries were, however, de- 
tached. After Sharpsburg, A'rmistead's Brigade was trans- 
ferred to Pickett's Division and General Perry placed in 
command of Pryor's Brigade, which was reorganized as a 
Florida Brigade, composed of the Second, Fifth and Eighth 



CAMPAIGN ENDING WITH MANASSAS 97 

Florida Regiments. Anderson's Division was a part of 
that incomparable body of heroes, Longstreet's Corps. 

When General Anderson received his promotion, it was 
quite natural that he should have a new uniform. The out- 
ward man must comport with the rising fortunes of the 
General. In fact, after the exposures, the old uniform he 
had worn during the Peninsular Campaign and in the Seven 
Days Battles around Richmond, must have needed renewal. 
The following bill, found among his papers, bears a touch 
of nature. Never mind how great a man may be, he has 
the ordinary human wants. It also gives an evidence of 
the advance of prices early in 1862, caused by a depreciation 
of a currency, 

'■Representing nothing on God's earth now, 
And naught in the water below it, 
We know it had hardly a value in gold, 
Yet as gold her soldiers received it — 
It gazed in our eyes with a promise to pay, 
And each patriot soldier believed it." 

"Richmond, 24 July, 1862. 
Gen'l. R. H. Anderson, 

Bought of Bun, Poindexter & Co. 
1 full dress uniform coat $ 98 

1 pair grey uniform pants 30 

Double row gold lace on pants 10 



$138 
Reed, payment, 

By D. Bullington." 

While McClellan's army rested quietly at Harrison's 
Landing, the Federals were assembling about Washington 
another army, named "The Army of Virginia," to invade 
the South, numbering near fifty thousand men for field ser- 
vice. General Pope was assigned to the command, and 



98 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

when he advanced, he moved along the Orange and Alex- 
ander Railroad in the direction of Gordonsville and Char- 
lottesville. As the capture of these points would interrupt 
General Lee's communications with Southwestern Virginia, 
from whence he drew many supplies, he took steps to 
check it. He sent Stonewall Jackson with a force to meet 
Pope, and he checked him about Culpeper. This raised 
such lively apprehensions in the mind of General Halleck, 
that he ordered McClellan to move from Harrison's Land- 
ing and concentrate his army near Washington. 

In this movement, Anderson's Division took no part, as 
it was with that part of the army left near Richmond. 

The retirement of McClellan released the balance of Lee's 
army and General Lee joined Jackson and advanced into 
Northern Virginia. 

This movement was in perfect accord with two prominent 
qualities of General Lee's character — natural and inborn — 
First, he seemed always anxious to take the initiative and 
not to leave it to his adversary. Second, he was always 
looking for a fight. He evidently believed War meant fight- 
ing — fighting whenever and wherever there was a reason- 
able chance of gaining an advantage. Never did he merci- 
lessly sacrifice his men. Never did he fight except to ac- 
quire some material gain. As such opportunities were fre- 
quent, he fought often. General Morris Schaff in his most 
charming and liberal "Sunset of the Confederacy," re- 
ferring to this character of Lee's, says, with great justice, 
"No, no eagle that ever flew, no tiger that ever sprung, had 
more natural courage ; and I will guarantee that every field 
he was on, if you ask them about him, will speak of the 
unquailing battle spirit of his mien. Be not deceived; Lee, 
notwithstanding his poise, was naturally the most belliger- 
ent bull dog man at the head of an Army in the War." 

Anderson's Division was encamped at Drewry's Bluflf, 
when on August T5th it was ordered to move to Louisa 



CAMPAIGN ENDING WITH MANASSAS 99 

Court House and there await orders. It marched to Rich- 
mond and then was entrained in the usual palace cars of 
the Confederacy, worn out, leaky, cold, bumpy freight cars, 
on the old Central Railroad. When the United States was 
forwarding the National Guard to the Mexican border dur- 
ing the summer of 1916, a storm of censure was poured 
forth, because said paternal Government had not furnished 
Pullmans for one of the New Hampshire Regiments. What 
would these soldiers think of the accommodation a Con- 
federate Regiment received when being transported? The 
men thought it a privilege, indeed a luxury, to be able to 
ride inside of an ordinary freight car, rather than on the 
top. Even the wounded had to be carried from the battle- 
field to the City Hospitals, stretched on the bare floor of 
such cars. 

The Division was sent forward by Brigades, as rapidly 
as possible, the trains starting as early in the day as pos- 
sible, to run about sixty miles and generally managed to ar- 
rive at their destination about nightfall, and when unload- 
ed, the troops formed line, stacked arms, and the men were 
soon fast asleep, soldier fashion, on the ground. 

August 19th the Division moved forward following Gen- 
eral Jackson, in the direction of Culpeper Court House, 
being the reserve of the army. It crossed the Rapidan at 
Racoon Ford the next day and camped that night about 
five miles from Kelly's Ford on the Rappahannock. 
Featherstone's Brigade had a brisk little skirmish with a 
force which dashed across at this Ford, endeavoring to de- 
lay the movement of the Army up the river. It amounted 
to nothing, and the march was resumed the next day, and 
about 1 o'clock at night, the Division bivouacked near 
Stevensburg. August 25th, the balance of Longstreet's 
Corps pushed on towards Thoroughfare Gap, leaving 
Anderson's Division as a reserve on the banks of the Rap- 
pahannock. August 28th the Division moved on towards 



100 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

the Gap, which was found occupied by the enemy. General 
Anderson sent General Wilcox with his own, Featherstone's 
and Pryor's Brigade to clear another opening in the moun- 
tain range, Hopewell Gap, three miles from Thoroughfare 
Gap. They reached the Gap about 10 P. M., but found the 
enemy had retired. And they rejoined the Division next 
morning. The Division on August 29th advanced and 
passed three miles beyond Gainesville, having been sent to 
the support of General Hood, who had driven the enemy 
some distance. On the morning of August 30th, the day 
of the second battle of Manassas, the Division was placed 
on the left of Longstreet and to the right of Jackson's line, 
which was along an embankment of the unfinished Manas- 
sas Railroad. Featherstone and Pryor, connecting with 
Jackson, Wilcox in reserve, Mahone, Armistead and Wright 
to the right of Hood, Law's Brigade of Hood's Division 
being in front of Pryor. A continuous fire of infantry and 
artillery was exchanged with the enemy until about 3 :30 
o'clock in the afternoon. Then the Federal masses were 
hurled against Jackson. Their first line advanced up to the 
railroad embankment, behind which Jackson's troops were 
placed, and there they remained for some time, like the 
Confederates at Franklin, unable to go on or to retire. A 
second and other lines of the enemy advanced, but they were 
exposed to a heavy enfilade fire from Capt. W. H. Chap- 
man's Dixie Battery, which caused their front to hesitate, 
and then break in confusion to their rear. As they retired 
they came under the fire of the guns of Reilly's and Mac- 
beth's batteries and the thirty-six guns of Col. Stephen D. 
Lee. Then the front line broke from its temporary security, 
retreated and M^as followed by Jackson with the rebel yell 
bursting from the lungs of his brave men. 

Since the war there have been many demands for the 
rebel yell, and the old veterans have tried to give it. But 
to hear it with all its vim and spirit the conditions must be 



CAMPAIGN ENDING WITH MANASSAS 101 

rig-lit, just as it was with Jackson's men, the Confederates 
must be pursuing the fleeing Yankee foe. The Confederate 
Soldier can't give the genuine, thrilling, Yankee scaring, 
rebel yell, but when the enemy is running and he is going 
after him. 

Hood's Division by heroic charges drove the enemy for 
about a mile, and then became exhausted. Gen. N. G. 
Evans rushed to their support, but the enemy held their 
ground, until Anderson's Division came and drove every- 
thing before it. It soon became a rout — not so bad as that 
of Bull Run, on the same field — but bad enough. General 
Pryor said, "The fighting ceased and after that it was a mere 
chase." General Wilcox said, "His Brigade after the 'chase' 
bivouacked half an hour after dark at the most advanced 
point reached by our infantry." General Featherstone cap- 
tured everything on his route and only darkness stopped 
the pursuit. W^ right's Brigade was in the hottest of the 
fight. Mahone's Brigade moved forward over ground 
strewed with dead and wounded Federal Zuaves, pushing 
victoriously on, but about sunset struck a force of the 
enemy, which checked their advance and wounded Gen- 
eral Mahone. 

Governor W. E. Cameron, then Adjutant of the Twelfth 
Virginia Regiment, tells of the morning of the battle, that 
he saw, "General Anderson, mounted on a fine black mare 
and decked off with a white waistcoat and gloves, as if go- 
ing to a ball, just in front of the Twelfth Virginia Regi- 
ment. Col. Walter Taylor, of Lee's Staff, dashed up to him, 
made some brief communication, and rode away. General 
Anderson turned and said with a smile. Gentlemen, General 
Jackson says that by the blessing of God his necessities have 
been relieved. So we will go to the right and help Long- 
street.' They then moved to the position where Hood had 
fought, from which our final advance on the enemy was 
made." 



102 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

During- the advance to Second Manassas an incident oc- 
curred exhibiting the rehgious fervor of the men and the 
undaunted devotion of the pastor. While resting near the 
Rappahannock when a battle seemed imminent, Rev. Mr. 
McDowell, Chaplain of the Palmetto Sharpshooters, was 
holding service with his Regiment, the enemy discovered 
the assembly and opened fire on them with shells. But 
Brother McDowell would not cut short his usual prayer by 
a single syllable. It was really praying under difficulties 
all thought, but the Chaplain was equal to the occasion. 

The Second Battle of Manassas ended another Federal 
journey "On to Richmond." Pope's Army returned to the 
defences around Washington and at Alexandria. Bull Run 
or Manassas, as was Cold Harbor, seemed a fateful and 
doomed field to the Federals. Twice they on each field met 
most disastrous defeat. Attended in 1861 by a fearful rout 
and in 1862 a like defeat only saved from being as bad a 
rout as the first by the fortunate arrival of Franklin and 
Sumner's Corps at Centreville, around whom Pope's routed 
forces rallied. 

The next morning, August 31st, Lee promptly took ac- 
tive measures to pursue the defeated enemy. He sent for 
General Jackson, and, upon receiving Lee's orders to cross 
Bull Run at Dudleys and march by Little River turnpike 
towards Fairfax, he said. Good ! and away he went without 
another word or even smile. There was, perhaps excepting 
Forrest, no more picturesque figure in the Confederate 
Armies than Gen. Stonewall Jackson, and no man who knew 
him more intimately or was better able to describe him, 
than General Longstreet. Therefore, the following quota- 
tion from Longstreet's "From Manassas to Appomattox" 
will be interesting and appropriate : "Though a suggestion 
of a smile always hung about his features, it was commonly 
said that it never fully developed, with a single exception, 
during his military career, though some claim there were 



CAMPAIGN ENDING WITH MANASSAS 103 

occasions on which it ripened, and those very near him say 
that he always smiled at the mention of the names of the 
Federal leaders whom he was accustomed to encounter over 
in the Valley behind the Blue Ridge. Standing, he was a 
graceful figure, five feet ten inches in height, with brown 
wavy hair, full beard and regular features. At first glance 
his general expression repelled the idea of his severe piety, 
the full beard concealing the lower features, which, had 
they been revealed, would have marked the character of 
the man who claimed 'his first duty to God and his next 
to Jackson and General Lee * * *' He had a habit of rais- 
ing his right hand, riding or sitting, which some of his fol- 
lowers were wont to construe into invocation for divine 
aid, but they do not claim to know whether the prayers 
were for the slain or for the success on other fields. The 
fact is, he received a shot in that hand at the first Bull Run, 
which left the hand under partial paralysis and the circu- 
lation through it imperfect. To relieve the pressure and as- 
sist the circulation he sometimes raised his arm." 

While this natural explanation of the well known habit 
of General Jackson is doubtless correct, it is much to be 
feared, that if it had been raised from spiritual devotion. 
General Longstreet would hardly have been able to explain 
the thought and workings of Jackson's mind when moved 
by such emotions. The making of this statement will be 
pardoned, when we read the following story the General 
tells upon himself : 

After the war a faithful old family servant, who had 
been his personal attendant, called upon him. He seemed 
very much concerned about his old maussa, and asked him, 
"Harse Jim, do you belong to any church?" "Oh, yes," 
Longstreet said, "I try to be a good Christian." He laughed 
loud and long and said, "Something must have scared you 
mighty bad, to change you so from what you was when I 
had to care for you." 



104 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

To protect his retreating columns Pope had placed two 
of his Corps at Ox Hill (Chantilly) who were advancing to 
seek him, Jackson, just as he arrived on the field. A very 
hot engagement took place, during which the balance of 
Lee's Army came up. During the night, the enemy con- 
tinued their retreat to the fortifications around Alexandria 
and Washington pursued by Stuart's Cavalry. 



CHAPTER XL 

Maryland Campaign, Including Battle of Sharpsburg. 

With his natural inborn fighting- character, General Lee 
could hardly conduct a strictly defensive campaign, such 
as Gen. Joseph E. Johnston could and did, with masterly 
strategy. He could never have waited quietly in one posi- 
tion, for the Enemy to attack him. His were, even at the 
siege of Petersburg, offensive defensives — striking the 
Enemy to prevent him from striking. General Lee's strate- 
gy in moving into Maryland in 1862 and the next year into 
Pennsylvania, has drawn upon him some adverse criticism 
from military critics. If Lee had had a thoroughly 
equipped Army it would have been different. But the wis- 
dom is certainly open to C[uestion, from the unimpassioned 
critic, of his marching into a hostile country an Army 
whose men were not well shod, many barefooted, badly 
clad, and wanting in the necessary wagons to transport 
even the scant supplies the poor Confederacy could provide. 

Whether wise or unwise there is one thing perfectly sure, 
that with the human character he possessed. General Lee 
fully, entirely, and without the slightest doubt, believed it 
was not only practicable, not only judicious, but the very 
best for the Cause he was so nobly defending and for the 
Country he so ardently loved. His confidence in its wisdom 
disarms the criticism of his followers, his admirers, his 
worshipers and convinces them that he was absolutely 



106 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

right. The author enrolls himself in this class and there- 
fore has not a word of censure, but everything of praise. 

So after the splendid victory at Manassas, Lee moved 
forward to invade the Enem)''s country and advanced into 
Maryland. Enthusiasm struck the Army and with one ac- 
cord his troops as they advanced, sung "Maryland, My 
Maryland." Her exiled son, Randall, was a silver-tongued, 
patriotic poet, and his stirring lines went right to the hearts 
of the Southern people. His closing lines were, 

"Maryland, My Maryland, 
She is not dead, nor deaf nor dumb ; 

Huzza, she spurns the Northern scum; 
She breathes; — She burns; — She'll come; — She'll come. — 

Maryland, My Maryland." 

But alas, she did not come. The gray coated warriors of 
the South were received with hardly a cheer. "The despot's 
heel" was too firmly "on her shore." 

On the 2d September, 1862, Anderson's Division, with 
Longstreet's Corps, of which it then formed a part, marched 
from Manassas' bloody field, via Dranesville and Leesburg 
into Maryland, crossing the Potomac River at White's Ford. 
They moved to Hagerstown, Md., reaching there Sept. 11th. 
It was hoped that this movement would have forced the 
evacuation of Harper's Ferry ; but failing to do so, it be- 
came necessary to capture it. Jackson was ordered to re- 
cross the Potomac and attack from the Virginia side, while 
McLaws, with his own and Anderson's Division, was to 
attack from Maryland. Anderson's Division crossed South 
Mountain through the Brownsville Pass, into Pleasant Val- 
ley (far from pleasant at that time). This Valley is be- 
tween South Mountain and Elk Ridge, the southern part of 
which latter was Maryland Heights. They moved south- 
ward down the Valley, towards Harper's Ferry. 

During the manoeuvres for the capture of Harper's Fer- 
ry, Anderson's Division did not act together as a unit, 



MARYLAND CAMPAIGN 107 

but the Brigades were separately posted and were each en- 
gaged when occasion offered. Only a part of Mahone's Bri- 
grade had for them a serious fight, that of the affair at 
Crampton's Gap. Wilcox's Brigade moved down South 
Mountain to a point overlooking Weverton and Pryor's 
Brigade occupied the town. Armistead moved directly 
down the Valley. 

The fight at Crampton's Gap on 14th September was 
very spirited. Two Regiments of Mahone's Brigade, under 
Colonel Parham took part. Col. Thos. T. Munford had 
joined, with two Regiments of Cavalry and a battery of 
Artillery, and being the ranking officer commanded the 
entire force — and commanded it well. He placed Parham's 
Regiments behind a stone fence at the base of the eastern 
face of the Mountain. A Regiment of Cavalry was dis- 
mounted and placed on either flank, and a Battery on the 
high ground in the rear. This little force was attacked by 
more than a Division of the Enemy, and made a bold, but 
fruitless effort to hold their position. The Enemy was too 
strong and drove them back and up the mountain to the 
Gap. Colonel Munford in his report says, "It affords me 
great pleasure to commend Colonel Parham, as a gallant 
and efficient officer ; he did everything in his power to hold 
his position and his little command fought splendidly." 
They must have fought "splendidly" and with almost des- 
peration, for nearly the entire two Regiments were lost, 
either flilled, wounded or captured. 

When the Survivors reached the Gap they found rein- 
forcements under General Cobb, but with these the Gap 
could not be held, so all retired down the mountain into 
Pleasant Valley. In the engagement. General Cobb says 
that including the forces at the Gap and those at the base 
of the mountain, the whole number of troops engaged on 
our side did not exceed 2,200, whilst the force of the Enemy 
was variously estimated from ten to twenty thousand. 



108 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

The remnants of Cobb's, Mahone's and Semmes, together 
with the Brigades of Wilcox, Kershaw and Barksdale 
formed a defensive line across Pleasant Valley, all under 
the command of Gen. R. H. Anderson. The Federals 
crossed the mountain and formed line in front of the Con- 
federate line, but while organizing for the attack, the fir- 
ing at Harper's Ferry ceased, indicating that the garrison 
there had capitulated. This would have relieved a large 
number of Confederates who were besieging the town and 
allow them to come to Anderson's support . This would 
have given the Confederates a strength the Federals could 
not match, so they made no attack. 

While there was no serious fighting save at Crampton's 
Gap, yet all the Brigades of Anderson's Division did well 
their part and the General himself was counsellor and 
friend to General McLaws, under whom he served. General 
McLaws in his report says : "My special thanks are due to 
General Anderson, whose Division was under my command, 
for his advice and assistance." 

What these and all the other devoted troops suffered in 
the severe marchest of this most arduous campaign is vivid- 
ly portrayed by Pollard in his "Southern History of the 
War," from which the following extract is made : "The 
route of the extraordinary marches of our troops presented 
for long and weary miles, the touching pictures of the 
trials of War. Broken down soldiers (not all strag-glers), 
lined the road. At night time they might be found asleep 
in every conceivable attitude of discomfort — on fence rails 
and in fence corners — some half bent, others almost erect, 
in ditches and on steep hill sides, some without blanket or 
overcoat. Daybreak found them drenched with dew, but 
strong in purpose ; with half rations of bread and meat, 
ragged and barefooted, they go cheerfully forward. No 
nobler spectacle was ever presented in history. These 
beardless youths and gray-haired men, who thus spent their 



' MARYLAND CAMPAIGN 109 

nights like the beasts of the field, were the best men of the 
land — of all classes, trades and professions. The spectacle 
was such as to inspire the prayer that ascended from the 
Sanctuaries of the South — that God might reward the de- 
votion of these men to principle and justice by crowning 
their labors and sacrifices with that blessing which always 
bringeth peace." 

General Lee was concentrating his Army at Sharpsburg 
to make fight on the high hills overlooking Antietam Creek. 
After the fall of Harper's Ferry, McLaws, with his own 
and Anderson's Division, moved to that point, going up the 
Virginia side of the Potomac from Harper's Ferry, Sept. 
15, 1862. The troops were sadly fatigued and a halt was 
made at Hall town. McLaws received pressing orders to 
hasten as the battle of Sharpsburg had opened. He moved 
at 3 P. M., halting after dark within two miles of Sheperds- 
town. Again he was pressed to move forward and marched 
at 12 o'clock that night and in the morning of 17th Sept. 
the head of his column reached the vicinity of General Lee's 
headquarters. About 11 o'clock, General Lee sent Ander- 
son's Division to the support of Gen. D. H. Hill, who was 
holding the center. D. H. Hill's line was along the Hagers- 
town road and bent at right angles along "Bloody Lane." 
General Anderson, as ordered, joined his left to the right of 
Hill's line, forming line southwardly towards the Piper 
House. The enemy brought up batteries which enfiladed 
Hill's line down Bloody Lane, causing great confusion. They 
followed by a heavy attack on Hill and Anderson, driving 
both back to the defensive fences along the Hagerstown 
road and to the shelter of the numerous houses of the 
Piper Farm. Here they stood defiant the remainder of the 
day, the enemy not renewing the attack. Armistead's Bri- 
gade had been sent previously to support McLaws, whose 
men had been scattered in the fight through the wood. The 



no LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

line McLaws finally formed was maintained, with the as- 
sistance of Ransom's and Armistead's Brigades. 

In this attack, General Anderson and his next senior Gen- 
eral Wright, were both wounded and the command of the 
Division fell to General Pryor. General Anderson was 
severely wounded in the thigh, but retained his command 
until the emergency had passed and then fell fainting from 
loss of blood. Gen. Geo. T. Anderson in his report says : 
"Parts of Wilcox's, Featherstone's and Pryor's Brigades 
(all of Anderson's Division), participated with mine and 
I am proud to say, all officers and men behaved admirably." 
When the shades of night settled, it closed over one of the 
bloodiest battlefields of the War — one disastrous to the 
grand Army of Lee's, checking his advance into the 
Enemy's country and compelling him to fall back into Vir- 
ginia. 

General Forrest's most successful strategy was com- 
pressed into one principle. "To get there firstest with the 
mostest men." Lee could not hope to face McClellan with 
a superior force, but if he had had all his men, he would 
have got there with enough men to withstand McClellan. 
Those troops, Jackson and McLaws, who hurried from 
Harper's Ferry, came almost too late. The concentration 
at Sharpsburg required much rapid marching, which would 
have involved severe fatigue on all men, but did so par- 
ticularly on the ragged, barefooted heroes who trudged af- 
ter Lee. Many fell by the v\^ayside and there were many 
stragglers. For example Mahone's Brigade went into Bat- 
tle with only seventy men. The condition of the men as to 
shoes alone was most pitiably shown by General Lee's Re- 
port to the Secretary of War after the campaign, when he 
reported that he had in four Divisions and two Batteries, 
6,466 barefooted men. Of these Anderson's Division re- 
ported 2,003, or more than half of its effective force. Was 
it any wonder that the men straggled? 



MARYLAND CAMPAIGN 111 

It has been said that "an Army fought on its belly." Lee's 
veterans proved that this, for them, was a fallacy. They 
were all, like the Courier, who v/as caught up a persimmon 
tree, eating green persimmons. When told they were not 
eatable as they were too acid, replied that he was drawing 
in his belly to match the rations. Rations were awfully 
scarce and Lee's men had to "draw in their bellies to suit 
the rations." Often the men thought themselves in clover, 
when they received corn as a ration. Not ground, not 
luscious green corn, but hard horse corn, issued one ear 
to the man. This brought forth from Ben, a mess cook, 
the remark, "Please Gord, dey feed buckra same as hors." 

The Correspondent of the London Times wrote, soon 
after this campaign : "In the shelter of the dense wood 
about Culpeper, in wonderful spirits, with physique inef- 
fably improved since the bloody day at Sharpsburg, are 
clustered the tatterdemalion regiments of the South. It is 
a strange thing to look at these men, so ragged, slovenly, 
sleeveless, without a superfluous ounce of flesh upon their 
bones, with wild matted hair, in mendicant's rags, and to 
think when the battle flag goes to the front how they can 
and do fight. There are triumphs of daring which these 
poor, ragged men have attempted successfully in this war 
which have never been attempted by their Sybarite oppon- 
ents. Again and again they have stormed batteries, formid- 
ably defended, at the point of the bayonet ; nothing of this 
kind has ever been attempted by the Federals. * * * One 
or two regiments of these tattered men will stand firm, 
though attacked by overwhelming numbers of the Enemy, 
and will constantly, under such circumstances, successfully 
hold their ground." 

As ever General Anderson went through this entire cam- 
jjaign with his accustomed bravery and skill. General Long- 
street in his Report says, "I shall only mention those most 
])rominently distinguished. There are Gen. R. H. Ander- 



112 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

son, on the plains of Manassas, at Harper's Ferry and at 
Sharpsburg, where he was wounded severely." He also 
names of the Brigade Commanders of Anderson's Division, 
General Wilcox, General Mahone (wounded at Manassas), 
General Pryor and Colonel Posey (commanding Feather- 
stone's Brigade). 

Thus ended the invasion of Maryland, and Lee's tattered 
but valiant hosts, returned to the confines of the Confed- 
eracy. 



CHAPTER XII. 
Battle of Fredericksburg. 

At Sharpsburg General McClellan gave General Lee a 
gentle hint that his company, north of the Potomac, was 
not desired. So Lee with his well-known gentlemanly 
courtesy, politely returned to his side of the river and gave 
his tired men a good opportunity to rest and recuperate, 
which they sorely needed. The army was camped in the 
lower Shenandoah Valley, from Winchester to Harper's 
Ferry. The enemy also took a rest and peace reigned for 
a season between the mighty contending armies. However 
McClellan was maturing his plans for another "On to Rich- 
mond" campaign, by another route. Oct. 25, 1862, he 
crossed the Potomac east of the Blue Ridge and moved 
southwesterly. Lee moved Longstreet's Corps up the Val- 
ley and left Jackson's Corps to attack the flank of the ad- 
vancing Enemy. The Federal march then bore to the East- 
ward, so Longstreet crossed the mountains and marched to 
Culpeper Court House. About this time General McClel- 
lan was relieved and General Burnside assigned to the Com- 
mand of the Federal Army in Virginia. 

Burnside decided to cross the Rappahannock at Fred- 
ericksburg and move in that direction on Richmond. Long- 
street's Corps was moved to confront the enemy at Fred- 
ericksburg and Jackson's Corps was brought over from the 
Valley and joined Lee. Lee formed his line, which he had 



114 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

time to partially protect by intrenchments, on the com- 
manding positions on the heights, which were parallel with 
the river and overlooked the low lands near the river, on 
which stood the city of Fredericksburg. Jackson's Corps 
was on the right and Longstreet's on the left, his left rest- 
ing on the Rappahannock River near the Dam. Anderson's 
Division was on his extreme left, Wilcox's Brigade being 
on the river and then to the right, successively, Wright's, 
Mahone's, Perry's, Featherstone's Brigades, the right of 
the Division resting on Hazel Run. 

General Sumner, commanding the Right Grand Division 
of Burnside's Army, reached a point opposite Fredericks- 
burg. He notified the Mayor and Common Council of Fred- 
ericksburg, that from the City, shots had been fired at his 
troops, that the Mills of the City were furnishing provisions 
and supplies and the railroad moving supplies for the Ene- 
my. That this condition should terminate and demanded a 
surrender of the City, fixing a limit of time when he 
would, if his terms were not complied with, commence shell- 
ing the city and from which the sick and wounded soldiers 
and the citizens should be removed. 

The Officer charged with the delivery of this summons to 
surrender handed it to General Longstreet. He referred it 
to the Mayor and asked him to say that the city would not 
be used for the purposes complained of, but that neither 
the town nor the South side of the river could be occupied 
by the Union Army except by force of arms. The Mayor 
communicated this in substance. Thereupon General Sum- 
ner advised the Mayor that his batteries would not open 
upon the town at the hour designated. 

General Longstreet says in "From Manassas to Appomat- 
tox," "As the inference from the correspondence was that 
the shelling was only postponed, the people were advised 
to move with their valuables to some place of safety as 
soon as possible. Without complaint, those who could, 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 115 

packed their precious effects and moved beyond the reach 
of the threatened storm, but many preferred to remain and 
encounter the dangers rather than to leave their homes and 
valuables. The fortitude with which they bore their trials 
quickened the minds of the soldiers who were there to 
defend them." 

Barksdale's Brigade was on picket duty in the town, along 
the river front. With them were the Third Georgia Regi- 
ment of Wright's Brigade and the Eighth Florida of Per- 
ry's Brigade, both of Anderson's Division. The enemy at- 
tempted to lay a pontoon bridge across the river at the city. 
As soon as the mist arose, disclosing the workmen on the 
proposed bridge, the Skirmishers opened fire, which was 
speedily replied to by the Federals. This fire was not heed- 
ed by the Skirmishers, who concentrated their fire on the 
bridge builders, whom they finally drove off. Another ef- 
fort to lay the bridge and then a third, all receiving the 
same repulse. Then all the enemy's guns, within a mile 
of the town, turned their concentrated fire upon the build- 
ings of the city, "tearing, crushing, bursting their walls 
with angry desperation." 

The Enemy finding they could not lay the bridges in the 
face of the galling picket line, filled some pontoons with sol- 
diers and pushed them across the river, and effected a land- 
ing and these were soon reinforced. The Seventh Michi- 
gan and Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiments became 
established and in spite of the very warm welcome given 
them by Barksdale and his command, they remained oc- 
cupying their position so bravely won. They were ordered 
to secure the streets of the town at all hazards and attempt- 
ed to do so. But they were checked and until heavily rein- 
forced could not move forward. Eventually, however, the 
whole eastern part of the town was occupied. At a late 
hour of the night the Confederates retired from the town. 
The two Regiments of Anderson's Division did some good 



116 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

work in the fight, and they had the fate to be the only 
portion of this Division which did any fighting in the bloody 
battle of Fredericksburg. The extreme left of the line was 
not attacked and as the other parts held their own, repuls- 
ing every attack made on them, there was no necessity to 
call for Anderson's assistance. The brunt of the battle was 
borne by Jackson's Corps on the right and by the right of 
Longstreet's line on Marye's Heights. 

It was a sad plight which befell the many who desired to 
remain in the City, and these, when the bombardment took 
place, had to leave their homes. This is well described by 
Capt. D. Augustus Dickert in his History of Kershaw's 
Brigade : "The City was almost deserted. General Lee ad- 
vising the citizens to leave their homes as soon as it became 
apparent that a battle would be fought here. Still a few, 
loath to leave their all to the ravages of an enemy, decided 
to remain and trust to fate. But soon after the firing along 
the river began, we saw groups of women and children and 
a few old men, in the glim twilight of the morning, rush- 
mg along the road out of the City, as fast as their feeble 
limbs and tender feet could carry them, hunting a safe 
retreat in the backwoods, until the cloud of war broke or 
passed over. Some were carrying babes in their arms, 
others dragging little children along by the hand, with a 
few articles of bedding or wearing apparel under their 
arms or thrown over their shoulders. The old men tottered 
along in the rear, giving words of comfort and cheer to 
the excited and frightened women and little ones. It was 
a sickening sight to see these helpless and inoffensive peo- 
ple, hurrying away from the dangers of battle in the chilly 
morning of December, seeking some safe haunts in the 
backwoods, yet they bore it all without a murmur or com- 
plaint." The sufferings undergone by the few inhabitants 
who remained in Fredericksburg during the Federal shell- 
ing of the town were heart-rending. The experience of one, 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 117 

Mrs. John T. Goolrick, then a child, and her family is so 
thrilling and so well told by the good lady, who since has 
been prominent in all Confederate Woman's work in her 
State, that, with her permission, it is used. An actual par- 
ticipation in great and tragic events must always command 
respect and attention, being far the most reliable of human 
testimony. 

"During the stormy winter of 1862, my mother, a widow, 
with three little children, was still in her native place, 
Fredericksburg, Virginia. Many of the inhabitants had 
long since left for Richmond and other points farther 
south, for the town lying just between the hostile armies 
was the constant scene of raids and skirmishes, and no one 
knew at what instant everything might be swept away from 
them. My mother, separated from her relatives by the for- 
tunes of war, decided that it would be best for her to re- 
main where she was and thus probably save the household 
effects she had gathered around her. The strongest argu- 
ments had been used by friends in town and relatives at a 
distance to induce her to leave for a place of more safety, 
but so far without avail, and though we were often alarmed 
by raids into the town, as yet we had sustained no injuries 
of any description. In the fall the Federal army, under 
General Burnside, was on the Stafford hills just across the 
river, and it was constantly rumored that the town would be 
bombarded ; but lulled to an insecure rest by many false 
alarms, the people had but little faith in these rumors. * * * 

At four o'clock on the 11th of December, one of the most 
cruel and heartless acts of the war was to be perpetrated, 
the town of Fredericksburg was to be bombarded, with no 
one in it but a few invalid men with helpless women and 
children. As quick as thought, we were up and dressed, 
and my aunt being very rapid in her movements, was the 
first to reach the cellar. My mother had long since had 
some chairs and other pieces of furniture placed there in 



118 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

case of an emergency. I being the first child dressed, ran 
out into the yard, and as I turned towards the cellar steps 
I beheld, it seemed to me, the most brilliant light that I 
had ever seen ; as I looked, my aunt reached out her arms 
and pulled me, quivering with terror, into the cellar. A 
shell had exploded at the back of the garden, in reality at 
some distance, but to me it was as if it had been at my very 
feet. The family soon assembled, including the servants ; 
we had also additions in the way of two gentlemen from 
Stafford, Mr. B. and Mr. G., who had been detained in 
town, and a Lieutenant Eustace of Braxton's battery, who 
was returning from a visit to his home, also a colored fam- 
ily. Uncle Charles and Aunt Judy, with a small boy named 
Douglas and two or three other children. The couple had 
been left in charge of their mistress' home (she being out 
of town), and with no cellar to their house they were fain 
to come into ours. 

And now the work of destruction began, and for long 
hours the only sound that greeted our ears were the whizz- 
ing and moaning of the shells and the crash of falling bricks 
and timber. My mother and we three children were seated 
on a low bed with Ca'line, a very small darkey, huddled as 
close to us children as she could get, trying to keep warm. 
Mr. B. and Mr. G. occupied positions of honor on each side 
of the large old-fashioned fire-place, while my aunt was 
cowering inside, and every time a ball would roll through 
the hosue or a shell explode she would draw herself up and 
moan and shiver. Lieutenant Eustace was a great comfort 
to my mother, and having someone to rely on enabled her 
to keep her courage up during the terrible ordeal of the 
cannonading. Although my brother, sister and myself were 
all frightened, we could not help laughing at the little 
darkey children who were positively stricken dumb with 
terror, old Aunt Judy keeping them close to her side and 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 119 

giving them severe cuffs and bangs if they moved so much 
as a finger. 

My aunt, as well as the rest of us, now began to feel the 
pangs of hunger, and Aunt B. ordered the cook in the 
most positive manner to go up to the kitchen and make 
some coffee, telling her that she knew she was afraid and 
we would all be satisfied with only a cup of coffee for the 
present. I believe Aunt Sally would have gone without a 
word if my mother had told her, but this, from an out- 
sider, she could not bear. (Aunt B. was my uncle's wife and 
the family servants had seen very little of her.) She, 
therefore, demurred, and Aunt B. calling her a coward, she 
arose in a perfect fury, and with insubordination written 
upon her from her rigid backbone to her flashing eyes, in- 
formed Aunt B. "dat she warn no mo' a coward dan de 
res' of 'em, but she didn't blieve Mars Gin'l Lee hisself 
cud Stan' up making coffee under dat tornady." Just about 
this time Uncle Charles sprawled himself out upon the floor 
in ungovernable terror, and called upon the Lord to save 
him and his family. "Pray for us all. Uncle Charles," 
screamed my aunt, her voice just heard above the roar of 
artillery. The cannonading was now something fearful. 
Our house had been struck twice, and the shrieking balls 
and bursting bombs were enough to appall the stoutest 
heart. My aunt being very brave in speech, but in reality 
very timorous, and Uncle Charles "a bright and shining 
light" among the colored persuasion, she again requests 
him to pray. Aunt Judy by this time began to bewail that 
she had "lef ole Miss cow in the cowshed," and mistaking 
the moaning of the shells for the dying groans of the 
cow she and Douglas lamented it in true darkey fashion. 
Uncle Charles meanwhile was very willing to pray, but 
Aunt Judy objected strenuously, saying, "Dis ain't no time 
to be spendin' in pra'ar, Char's Pryor, wid dem bumb 
shells flying over you and a fizlin' around you, and ole 



120 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Mis cow dyin' right dar in your sight." But when the house 
was struck for the third time, Aunt B., in despairing ac- 
cents, begged Uncle Charles to pray, so he fell upon his 
knees by an old barrel in the middle of the cellar floor, 
upon which sat a solitary candle, whose flickering light lit up 
his hushed and solemn countenance, and in tremulous tones 
with many interjections, offered up a prayer. * * * 

"My mother thought of my father's portrait, and afraid 
of its being injured she determined to get it herself and 
bring it into the cellar. Without telling anyone of her in- 
tention, she left the cellar and went up into the parlor; the 
portrait was hanging just over a sofa, on which she stood 
to take it down. She had just reached the door opposite the 
sofa when a shell came crashing through the wall, demol- 
ishing the sofa on which she had so recently stood, as well 
as many other articles of furniture. She reached the cellar 
white and trembling, but with the portrait unhurt in her 
arms. 

"At one o'clock the cannonading suddenly ceased and 
for one hour we were at liberty to go above and see the 
damage that had been done. My mother's first efforts were 
directed towards getting a lunch, of which we were all 
sorely in need. With the aid of one of the frightened ser- 
vants she succeeded in getting a fire and having some cof- 
fee made and with this, together with some cold bread and 
ham, we had a plentiful repast. 

"What a scene met our eyes ; our pretty garden was 
strewn with cannon balls and pieces. of broken shells, limbs 
knocked off the trees and the grape arbor a perfect wreck. 
The house had been damaged considerably, several large 
holes torn through it, both in front and back. While we 
were deploring the damage that had been done. Lieutenant 
Eustace returned in breathless haste to say that he had just 
heard an order from General Lee read on Commerce street, 
saying that the women and children must leave town, as the 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 121 

enemy were rapidly crossing the river on pontoon bridges. 
They urged my mother to take her children and fly at once 
from the town. After resisting until the gentlemen in 
despair were almost ready to drag her from her dangerous 
situation, she finally consented to leave. The wildest con- 
fusion now reigned, the servants wringing their hands and 
declaring they could not go without their "chists," which 
they all managed to get somehow, and put upon their heads, 
but the gentlemen insisted so that we had only time to 
save our lives, that they would not ever let my mother go 
back into the house to get her purse or a single valuable. 
So we started just as we were; my wrapping, I remember, 
was an old ironing blanket, with a large hole burnt in the 
middle. I never did find out whether Aunt B — ever got 
her clothes on, for she stalked ahead of us, wrapped in a 
pure white counterpane, a tall, ghostly looking figure, who 
seemed to glide with incredible rapidity over the frozen 
ground. * * * 

"We plodded along under a heavy cross fire ; balls fall- 
ing right and left of us. We left the town by way of the old 
"plank road," batteries of Confederates on both sides. The 
ground was rough and broken up by the tramping of sol- 
diers and the heavy wagons and artillery that had passed 
over it, so that it was difficult and tiresome to walk, and 
the sun not quite warm by this time and the snow was 
melting rapidly, the mud was simply indescribable. * * * 

"We had now reached the "Reservoir," a wooden build- 
ing over "Poplar Spring," and about a mile from town. I 
had already lost one of my shoes several times, because 
of having no string in it, and my little brother insisted on 
giving me one of his, so we sat down by the "Reservoir," 
feeling very secure, but were terribly alarmed in a few mo- 
ments by a ball coming through the building and whizzing 
very close to our ears. No, this would not do, so on we 
went, footsore and weary ; sometimes we would meet a sol- 



122 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

dier who would carry one of us a short distance. All of 
our servants, except Ca'line, who was only seven years old, 
had taken some other direction. When we got about two 
miles from town we overtook many other refugees ; some 
were camping by the way, and others pressing on, some to 
country houses which were hospitably thrown open to wan- 
derers from home, and others to "Salem Church," about 
three miles from Fredericksburg, where there was a large 
encampment. Our destination was a house not far from 
"Salem Church," which we now call the "Refuge House." 
Exhausted we reached the house by twilight, found there 
some friends who had been there some weeks, and who 
kindly took us into their room and gave us every attention. 
And so great was our relief to feel that we had escaped 
from the horror of that day, that such small matters as 
having to sleep in the room with a dozen people, having 
no milk and no coffee, our principal diet consisting of corn 
bread, bacon and sorghum, seemed only slight troubles." 

An incident of a most touching character which occurred 
during the battle was the contest around the tomb of Mary 
Washington, the mother of George Washington. A hand 
to hand encounter was desperately contested by some troops 
from New York and Massachusetts on the Federal side and 
North Carolinians fighting in defence of their homes and 
friends. "Sons of the same ancestry, sons of sires who 
fought with the Father of his country" in the struggle for 
independence and the establishment of a Confederation of 
sovereign States, now fighting around the grave of the 
great first President's mother, for the dissolution of the 
Union he founded. Thrice were the Confederates driven 
back, but gallantly returning, finally drove off the Fed- 
erals. 

Capt. D. Augustus Dickert, from whose most valuable 
"History of Kershaw's Brigade," we have, and now again 
quote, was in that Brigade, which had a most conspicuous 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 123 

and important position at this battle, and he knows whereof 
he speaks. The key to Lee's position was the Stone wall 
in front of Marye's Hill. Appreciating this the Enemy 
hurled against it his innumerable hosts, making every hu- 
man endeavor to capture it. It was defended by three 
Regiments of Cooke's North Carolina Brigade ; the Tenth, 
Eighteenth and Twenty-fourth Georgia Regiments and 
Cobb's and Philips' Georgia Legions, all of which were of 
Gen. T. R. R. Cobb's Brigade ; the Second, Third, Seventh, 
Eighth and Fifteenth South Carolina Regiments and the 
Third South Carolina Battalion, all of Kershaw's Brigade, 
with a Battery of the Washington Artillery, and Moody's 
Battery of Alexander's Battalion. 

The Third South Carolina Regiment was "ordered to the 
top of Marye's Hill. Colonel Nance at the head of his Regi- 
ment, entered the Telegraph Road and down this the men 
rushed, followed by the Second Regiment, led by Colonel 
Kennedy, under one of the heaviest shellings the troops 
ever experienced. On reaching the ravine at the lower end 
of the incline, the Third Regiment was turned up a road to 
the plateau in rear of the Marye Mansion. When the 
Third Regiment reached the top of the plateau it was in 
column of fours and Colonel Nance formed line of battle 
by changing front forward on first company. This pretty 
piece of tactics was executed while under the galling fire 
from the artillery and sharpshooters, but was as perfect 
as on dress parade. We had scarcely gotten in position be- 
fore Nance, Rutherford and Moffett, the three field officers, 
had fallen. Colonel Kennedy, with the Second passed over 
the left of the plateau and down the street on our left and 
at right angles with our line, being in a position to give a 
sweeping fire to the flank of the columns of assault against 
the Stone fence. They were in a sunken road, walled on 
either side with granite, the earth on the outside being 
levelled up with the top of the wall." The other Regiments 



124 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

of Kershaw's Brigade doubled up with Cobbs men behind 
the Stone wall. "The men in the road, even the wounded, 
crowded out from the wall by force of numbers, loaded the 
guns for the more fortunate who had places and in many 
instances three or four men loaded the guns for one, pass- 
ing them to those who were firing from the top of the 
Stone fence. Each seemed to fight on his own responsi- 
bility, and with the same determined spirit to hold the wall 
and the heights above. Each felt as if the safety of th. 
army depended upon his exertions alone." 

The first assault was made by Franklin, which was easily 
repulsed, then Hancock, then Howard tried in vain, now 
Sturgis of the Ninth Corps was advancing to the assault. 
The Confederate situation was extremely critical. The 
Washington Artillery had exhausted their shot and shell 
and Cobbs and Kershaw's men behind the stone wall were 
nearly out of ammunition. Calls for more were made, but 
could not be responded to. "The hearts of the exhausted 
men began to fail them — the batteries silent, the infantry 
short of ammunition, while a long line of blue was making 
rapid strides towards us in front." A supply of ammuni- 
tion was, however, sent down the road in time to meet the 
next attack. "But all hearts were made glad by the sud- 
den rush of Moody's Battery of Alexander's Battalion, 
coming to the relief of the Washington Artillery. Down 
the Telegraph Road the battery came, their horses rearing 
and plunging, drivers burying the points of their spurs 
deep into the flanks of the foaming steeds ; riders in front 
bending low upon the saddle bows to escape the shells that 
now filled the air or plowing up the earth beneath the 
horses' hoofs, the men on the caissons clinging with a death- 
like grip to retain their seats, the great heavy wheels spin- 
ning around like mad and bounding high in the air; while 
the officers riding at the side of the charging column of 
Artillerists, shouted at the top of their voices, giving di- 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 125 

rections to the leaders. Down this open and exposed 
stretch of road, up over the plateau, then wheel to the right, 
they made a rush through the gauntlet that separates them 
from the fort in which stood the Washington Artillery. 
Over the dead and dying the horses leap and plunge, drag- 
ging their cannon and ammunition chests — they enter the 
fort at a gallop. Swinging into line, their brass pieces are 
now belching forth grape and canister into the ranks of 
the advancing columns. All this takes place in less time 
than it takes to record it. The bold dash and beautiful 
piece of evolution so excite the admiration of all who wit- 
nessed it, that a yell went up that drowns for a time the 
heavy baying of the Siege guns on Stafford Heights." 

"Sturgis had met the fate of those who had assaulted 
before him. Now Getty and Griffin were making efforts to 
capture the stone wall. In this last attack was the famous 
Meaghers Irish Brigade of New York, all Irishmen, but un- 
doubtedly the finest body of troops in the Federal Ai;my. 
With a firm and elastic step this long, swaying line of 
Irishmen moved to the assault, with as much indifference 
apparently to their fate as 'Sheep going to the Shambles.' 
Not a shot was fired from this advancing line, while the 
shells from our batteries cut swath after swath through 
their ranks, only to be closed again as by some mechanical 
means ; colors fall, but rise and float again, men bounding 
forward and eagerly grasping the fallen staff, indifferent 
of the fate that awaited them. Officers are in front, with 
drawn swords flashing in the gleam of the fading sunlight, 
urging on their men to still greater deeds of prowess and 
by their individual courage set examples in heroism never 
before witnessed on this continent. They forge their way 
forward over the heap of dead and dying that now strew 
the plain, nearer to the deadly wall than any of the troops 
before them. It began to look for a moment as if their un- 
daunted courage would succeed, but the courage of the de- 



126 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

fenders of Marye's Hill seemed to increase in ardour and 
determination in proportion to that of the Enemy. The 
smoke and flame of their battle is now less than one hun- 
dred paces from the wall, but the odds are against them, 
and they, too, had to finally yield to the inevitable and leave 
the field in great disorder." 

"From both sides hopes and prayers had gone up that 
this charge would prove the last attempt to break our lines. 
But Humphries met the shattered columns with a fresh ad- 
vance. Those who were marching to enter this maelstrom 
of carnage were entreated and prayed to by all of those who 
had just returned from the sickening scene, not to enter the 
death trap and begged them not to throw away their lives 
in the vain attempts to accomplish the impossible. But 
Humphries, urged on by the imperative orders from his 
Commander-in-chief, soon had his men on the march to the 
'bloody wall.' But as the sun dropped behind the hills in 
our rear, the scene that presented itself was a plain filled 
with the dead and dying — a living stream of flying fugitives 
seeking shelter from the storm of shot and shell by plung- 
ing over the precipitous banks of the river or along the 
streets and protecting walls of the city buildings. It has 
been computed, by returns made since, that in the seven dif- 
ferent charges there were engaged at least 25,000 infantry 
alone, in the assault against the Stone wall, defended by 
not more than 4,000 men, exclusive of artillery." Of this 
number the Enemy lost about 8,000. Captain Dickert must 
have computed only the numbers actually behind the Stone 
wall and the Second and Third South Carolina Regiments. 
Maj. Jed Hopkins in the Virginia Volume of the Confed- 
erate Military History puts the attacking force at 31,000 
and the Confederate force at 7,000 — probably including 
those on the crest of the Hill, in action and in reserve and 
gives the Federal loss as nearly 9,000. 

The battle was not renewed on Dec. 14th and 15th, On 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 127 

the night of the 15th Burnside withdrew across the river, 
sending his troops to their camps. The Confederates went 
into winter quarters on the high ground near Fredericks- 
burg. 

During the rest of the winter, when marching, moving 
and fighting were abandoned, if not forgotten, the soldiers 
had time to think of other things. Then the unique in- 
stitution of the Confederate Army came to the front — the 
negro cook. At the outbreak of the War, almost every 
mess, those of privates as well as officers, had their negro 
cook, but when the stringency in food supplies came and 
every economy in its use became necessary, most of the 
negro cooks, among the men, were ordered to be sent home. 
The cook then had to fight as well as cook. The poor Con- 
federacy could only afford rations for one, who must be an 
effective man. But many remained with their old masters. 
The soldier was ever ready to share, however pitifully 
small it might be, his rations with the cook. There was a 
mutual kindness between them. The cook usually could 
live on what stuck to the pot, but in those days so scant 
was the ration that but little "stuck to the pot." 

There was as much caste feeling among the negroes, in 
fact more, than among the soldiers. In times of peace and 
when at home, the negro based his claim of caste upon the 
wealth or standing of his master. But in the Army the rank 
of his master overshadowed the wealth. The servant of a 
Brigadier felt royal, as compared with that of a Colonel 
and the servant of a Colonel or even a Major, was far 
ahead, in superiority and importance, those belonging to 
the privates or line ofificers. The negro was naturally a 
hero worshipper. As great "foragers" as they were, they 
never ventured far in front while on the advance nor lin- 
gered too dangerously in the rear on a retreat. They just 
hated the Yankee and had a deadly fear of capture. "One 
day an officer's cook wandered too far away in the wrong 



128 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

direction and ran up on the Federal pickets. Jack had cap- 
tured some old cast off clothes, some garden greens and an 
old dominicker rooster. He was halted, brought in and 
questioned. The Federals sought to conciliate Jack with 
honeyed words and great promises. But Jack would have 
none of it. 

" 'Well look er here,' said Jack, 'who you people be no- 
how?' 

" 'We are Federal soldiers,' answered the picket. 

"'Well, well, is you dem?' 

" 'Dem who?' asked the Federals. 

" 'Why dem Yankees, ob course — dem dajt cotched Mars 
Clay.' 

"The Federals admitted they were Yankees, but that now 
Jack had no master, that he was free. 

" 'Is dat so ?' Then scratching his head musingly. Jack 
said at last, 'I don know 'bout dat — what you gwine do 
wid me, anyhow, what yer want?' 

"He was told that he must go as a prisoner to head- 
quarters first and then be dealt with as a contraband of 
war. 

" 'Great Gord Almighty ! white folks don't talk dat a 
way.' 

"The negro had now become thoroughly frightened and 
with a sudden impulse, he threw the chicken at the soldier's 
feet, saying, 'Boss, ders a rooster, but here is me,' and then 
with the speed of a startled deer he 'hit the wind,' to use a 
vulgarism of the Army. 'Halt ! Halt ! bang, whiz came from 
the sentinel and the whole picket force at Jack's heels. But 
the faithful negro, for the time excelled himself in running 
and left the Federals far behind. He came into camp, 
puffing, snorting and blowing like a porpoise. 'Great Gord 
Almighty, Maussa, talk about patter roles, dey aint in it. 
If dis nigger did not run ter night, den dont talk.' Then 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 129 

Jack recounted his night's experience, much to the amuse- 
ment of the Hstening soldiers." 

"Another negro cook was a venerable looking old negro, 
who held the di:>tinguished post of 'exhorter' at home. His 
sister's 'chile' had filled Uncle Cage's head with thrilling 
war stories, but he only shook his head and chuckled, 'Dey 
may kill me, but dey cant scare dis nigger.' One day a 
shelling took place, one shell bursting near Uncle Cage 
while he was preparing breakfast. Some began to hunt for 
the safety of the wagon yard, but Uncle Cage remained 
at his post. He was just saying, 'Here, yer young niggers 
aint no account ; dey's skeered of dere own shadow,' when 
boom — boom — a shell exploded right over his head, throw- 
ing fragments around. Uncle Cage then made for the rear, 
calling as he ran, 'Oh ! dem cussed Yankees ! You want to 
kill er nudder nigger, dont you?' Seeing the men laughing 
he yelled back, 'You can laff if you want to, but ole marse 
aint got no niggers to fling away.' " 

An animated religious discussion was heard among the 
negroes of a General's mess, at the fire in rear of tents of 
the General and his staff. As each had one or more ser- 
vants quite a large group took part in the discussion. 
Uncle Josey, the patriarch of the party was a leader in the 
church and his opinion on religious and moral subjects 
carried great weight. Plenty, a negro boy, was interrogat- 
ing the sage Uncle Josey on certain religious points for his 
information and improvement. To those having any army 
experience it will be useless to explain that neither a negro 
nor a white man could possibly drive a mule team without 
a voluminous outpouring of "cuss" words and the worse 
the road the greater number of "cusses." Question after 
question was put by Plenty and answered satisfactorily by 
Uncle Josey, until at last Plenty put a poser, "Uncle Josev, 
you tink a nigger what drive mule can go to heaven?" 

During the winter the Enemy made several abortive as- 
saults and threatening movements, whose only result was 



130 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

the final relief of Burnside and the command of the Federal 
Army in Virginia being turned over to General Hooker. It 
was apparent that there were but two moves left open to 
Hooker for his spring campaign. The first by crossing the 
upper fords of the Rappahannock; secondly, by sending 
forces to the South side of the James River and by that 
route moving "on to Richmond." To guard against the 
former, lines for fieldworks and rifle pits were laid out 
covering all approaches by the upper fords, as far as the 
road leading from United States Ford. From that point, 
the line broke to the rear, crossing the plank road from 
Chancellorsville to Spotsylvania Court House. Longstreet 
was sent with the divisions of his corps. Hood's and 
Pickett's, with Dearing's and Henry's Artillery battalions 
to the South side, near Petersburg, leaving the divisions of 
McLaws and Anderson to build the breastworks on the 
other line of defence. So Anderson's Division had the di- 
version and warming up exercise with the spade, building 
lines of works and rifle pits. It is to be hoped that they 
were of some use, as the Confederates built hundreds of 
miles of such and seldom, had to fight behind them. 

The wound General Anderson received at Sharpsburg 
had healed in time for him to command his Division in 
the battle of Fredericksburg and during the long winter of 
1862-1863. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Chancellorsville Campaign. 

In this history of General Anderson's distinguished ca- 
reer, it has been eminently proper to give place to stories 
of the various units which constituted his command. But 
mention of other commands or the general movements of 
the Army have been omitted, unless absolutely necessary 
to explain and make clear the actions of General Anderson 
personally, or of his whole command or any of its parts. 
This scheme will be adhered to generally, but now an ex- 
ception will be made. It is proposed to state the general 
movements of the Army, which defeated "Fighting Joe 
Hooker" at Chancellorsville, because what Anderson and 
the Brigades of his Division did and accomplished is so 
closely interwoven with general Army manoeuvres that the 
two cannot well be separated in the description. What 
Anderson and his troops actually accomplished in the 
Chancellorsville campaign contributed so largely to the 
successful issue of the magnificent strategy of General Lee, 
that one cannot be told, without telling the other. Fortun- 
ately, General Lee's official report is very full and graphic 
and it will be followed, though necessarily much abbrevi- 
ated. 

Chancellorsville is situated about twenty miles west of 
Fredericksburg and nearly south of the junction of the 
Rapidan with the Rappahannock River. After the battle of 



132 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Fredericksburg-, in December, 1862, the Confederate Army 
had remained encamped on the South Side of the Rap- 
pahannock, until the latter part of April, 1863. The Fed- 
eral Army occupied the North side of the river opposite the 
city, extending to the Potomac, across the narrow neck of 
land between the two rivers. Two Brigades of Anderson's 
Division, those of Mahone and Posey (formerly Feather- 
stone's), were stationed near United States Mine or Bark's 
Mill Ford and a third, Wilcox's guarded Bank's Ford. 
The Cavalry were on both flanks of the Army, up and 
down the river. 

April 14th, the Enemy's movements indicated that the 
Federal Army was about to resume active operations. April 
28th they crossed a considerable force at Fredericksburg. 
The disposition made of the Confederate Army was the 
same as for the battle of December. The enemy made no 
attack, which led to the assumption, verified by subsequent 
events, that the crossing was a feint and that the real at- 
tack would come from some other quarter. This was soon 
confirmed, when on the next day, April 29th, intelligence 
was received that the Enemy had crossed the Rappahan- 
nock, above its junction with the Rapidan and were mov- 
ing on roads crossing the latter and converging at Chan- 
cellorsville. That night General Anderson was directed to 
proceed towards Chancellorsville calling in Wright's, Ma- 
hone's and Perry's Brigades and cover the roads. Learn- 
ing that the Enemy had crossed the Rapidan and was ap- 
proaching in strong force, Anderson withdrew from Chan- 
cellorsville on the morning of the 30th April, to near 
Tabernacle Church, the intersection of the Mine and the 
Plank roads and began to intrench. Mahone was placed on 
the old turnpike and Wright and Posey on the plank road. 

General Anderson and his three Brigades were in a very 
critical position, opposing the advance of three corps of 
Hooker's Army. That Hooker's Army be delayed was es- 



CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 133 

sential to give General Lee time to concentrate his Army. 
General Lee doubtless chose "Fighting Dick" Anderson for 
this important service because he knew his sterling worth, 
devotion to duty and great skill. In an address made by 
Mr. Marion W. Seabrook, at Statesburg, on Memorial Day, 
1916, is found the following eloquent words, describing 
General Anderson's situation, his "bulldog" courage, his 
grand obedience to orders, and the lessons to be learned 
therefrom : 

"After a reconnaissance, it was discovered that the whole 
of Hooker's Army was in front of his three slim brigades. 
He was asked what he was going to do about it. And 
promptly, the answer came, clear and true, 'Fight, General 
Lee says so.' What a laconic reply ! What sublime re- 
solve couched in five short words ! What a key to the 
character of the man from whose lips they came ! To do 
and die, if necessary, it meant. The odds were not counted. 
With three Brigades he was to hold back Hooker's entire 
Army. The light of his character shown in his decision. 
Without words, without protestations, without a murmur, 
his resolve was to fight. The immortal words of Tenny- 
son, seem to express the situation exactly when he said : 

'"Theirs not to make reply; 
Theirs not to reason why; 
Theirs but to do and die ; 
Noble six hundred." 

"This was Richard Heron Anderson. What a help to us 
in our own difficulties of life it would be, if we would only 
think of this incident when we are discouraged and feel 
that we have met the end of the rope. When trials seem 
to block every move ; when adversity seems supreme ; when 
nothing seems left to do but to give up, friends, think of 
General Anderson at Tabernacle Church, with Hooker's 
Army overwhelming him ; and, with the light of this in- 



134 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

spiration in your soul, put a new effort into what you are 
doing; a fresh shoulder to the wheel and Fight. 

"And when you are rewarded with success, as surely you 
must be, do not even then forget the character and acts 
of this great man ; be, as he was, modest and unassuming. 
He shrunk from publicity. To him merit was its own re- 
ward." 

The Enemy near Fredericksburg having continued inac- 
tive, General Lee was confirmed in his judgment that the 
main attack would be made elsewhere, most probably on 
the Confederate left and rear. So Lee left Early's Division 
and Barksdale's Brigade, with part of the reserve Artillery 
to hold the line in front of Fredericksburg and moved the 
rest of his Army to meet Hooker's advance, pressing on 
Anderson. At midnight of April 30th McLaws marched 
toward Chancellorsville and General Jackson followed at 
dawn the next morning. Jackson reached Anderson's posi- 
tion at 8 A. M. and immediately began preparations for an 
advance. At 11 o'clock the troops moved forward upon 
the plank and old turnpike roads ; Anderson, with the bri- 
gades of Wright and Posey, leading on the former, Mc- 
Laws, preceded by Mahone on the latter — Wilcox and Perry 
of Anderson's Division co-operating with McLaws. Jack- 
son followed Anderson on the plank road. The Enemy was 
soon encountered on both roads, but our troops pressed 
steadily on. A strong attack was made on McLaws, which 
was repulsed, but his Division could not advance. Then 
Anderson sent Wright's Brigade to his left, turning the 
Enemy's right, and the whole opposing line retreated rapid- 
ly and were vigorously pursued by our troops until they ar- 
rived within about one mile of Chancellorsville. Here 
Hooker's Army had assumed a position of great natural 
strength, surrounded on all sides by a dense forest, filled 
with tangled underbrush. They had constructed log breast- 
works, with trees felled to form an almost impossible abat- 



CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 135 

tis. His Artillery swept the few narrow roads by which 
his position could be approached and it also commanded the 
woods. The Federal left rested at the Bark's Mill Ford 
on the Rappahannock, where had been placed a pontoon 
bridge, and extended westward along the Germanna Ford 
road more than two miles. It was thought best not to at- 
tack that night, but the Confederate line was formed in 
front of Chancellorsville, at right angles to the plank road. 
A direct attack in the morning would have been attended 
with great difficulty and heavy loss, because of the strength 
of the Federal position and their great superiority in num- 
bers. It was therefore resolved to endeavor to turn his 
right flank, gain his rear, leaving a force in front to hold 
him in check and conceal the movement. The execution 
of the flanking movement was entrusted to Stonewall Jack- 
son and his three Divisions. Well did they do the work, 
but alas, at what sad cost to the Confederacy. Anderson 
maintained his position, but sent Wilcox's Brigade back to 
Bank's Ford. 

Early on the morning of May 2d, Jackson's Corps com- 
menced to move. During this movement, an attack was 
made on his train which was following in his rear, which led 
to a spirited engagement. To assist in the defence of the 
train, Posey's and Wright's Brigades were sent and the 
enemy was repulsed. After a long and fatiguing march 
Jackson reached the old turnpike at 4 P. M., about three 
miles in rear of Chancellorsville. At 6 P. M. the advance 
was ordered. The Federals were completely surprised and 
broke in panic and utter rout. Position after position was 
carried, guns captured and every effort of the Enemy to 
rally was in vain. The victorious Confederate advance was 
only checked, after nightfall, by the abattis in front of the 
line of works, near the central position at Chancellorsville 
and by the most unfortunate wounding of the immortal 
Stonewall Jackson. When Jackson fell General A. P. Hill 



136 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD FI. ANDERSON 

was called to the command of his corps but was soon dis- 
abled. Then General Stuart was assigned to the command 
of Jackson's Corps. The Confederates rested that night, 
as they stood, on the ground captured from the Enemy and 
made sacred by the precious life blood of the Confederacy's 
great hero. 

At what a price was this victory gained ! The loss of 
"the good and great Jackson !" Any success would have 
been dear at such a price! "I (Robert E. Lee) know not 
how to replace him, but God's will be done. I trust He 
will raise some one in his place !" Col. G. F. R. Hender- 
son ends a eulogy to Jackson thus : "Throughout the whole 
of his soldier's life, he was never entrusted with any de- 
tached mission which he failed to execute with complete 
success. No general made fewer mistakes. No general so 
]iersistently outwitted his opponents. No general better un- 
derstood the use of the ground or the value of time. No 
general was more highly endowed with courage, both phy- 
sical and moral, and none ever secvu'ed to a greater degree 
the trust and affection of his troops. And yet so upright 
was his life, so profound his faith, so excjuisite his tender- 
ness, that Jackson's many victories are almost his least 
claim to be ranked amongst the world's true heroes." 

The only General in the Confederate Army who at all 
resembled Jackson in the character of his manoeuvres, his 
peculiar military qualities and the marked success of his 
enterprises, was Nathan B. Forrest. On a somewhat 
smaller scale, because he had not the same scope, his opera- 
tions were equally skillful with those of Jackson. He was 
a natural born military genius. He had received no pre- 
vious military training. As West Point graduation was the 
open sesame to promotion and recognition in the Confed- 
erate Army, he was debarred from that preferment, which 
his actual merit and accomplishments warranted. It was 
most natural that professional soldiers .should have been 



CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN 137 

deemed most worthy to fill offices of trust and command in 
the new Army of a new Country. To a very large extent, 
rank in the old (U. S.) Army, was observed in the Con- 
federate Army. But, alas ! our leaders overlooked the fact 
that thei-e was such a thing- as natural military genius and 
that such was better fitted to direct the Confederate Sol- 
diers, who were not thoroitghly disciplined and had not be- 
come machines. The Confederate Regiments moved with 
but very little military form. It was the leadership, the in- 
fluence, the inspiration of the officers which carried the men 
forward, to the achievement of such glorious results. This 
very leadership — -"Follow me, boys !" not "Forward, march" 
— this dash gave both Jackson and Forrest their victories. 
In one particular Forrest excelled Jackson. Jackson com- 
manded troops already organized and turned over to him. 
But Forrest created his commands. Three times in his ca- 
reer, he gathered his men — ofttimes from the rear of the 
Enemy's lines ; — he armed and equipped them by capturing 
the necessary arms, horses and equipment from his foes 
and by his own personal exertions, organized and fought 
these superb bodies of dauntless Cavalry. Forrest was to 
the Cavalry what Jackson was to the Infantry — the ideal 
leader and unconquerable General. 

While Jackson was making his flank movement, Ander- 
son and McLaws were handling their troops so as to make 
a show of force and a threat of attack, which last was to be 
increased when Jackson's guns were heard. They were 
not to make an actual assault unless some unexpectedly 
favorable opportunity should offer. They did their part so 
thoroughly, that Hooker dared not withdraw any part of 
his force to assist his right wing. 

Early on the morning of May 3rd General Stuart pressed 
Jackson's Corps forward, overcoming some ])retty tough 
obstacles, but steadily sweeping everything before him. 
Anderson, at the same time, pushed gallantly forward, di- 



138 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

rectly upon Chancellorsville, his right resting on the plank 
road and his left extending around the Furnace, while Mc- 
Laws made strong demonstration to the right of the road. 
Anderson effected a junction with Jackson's Corps and the 
whole line pressed irresistibly on. The Federals were 
driven from all their fortified positions and retreated to- 
wards the Rappahannock and took up a very strong posi- 
tion. This required so much caution on the part of the Con- 
federates to attack, that it was not deemed wise to attempt 
an assault near the close of the day. But Lee made his 
preparations and they were just about completed, when 
further operations were arrested by intelligence received 
from Fredericksburg. Early had been attacked and driven 
from his positions there, after which the Enemy began to 
advance up the plank road, his progress being most gal- 
lantly and efficiently delayed by Wilcox's Brigade of Ander- 
son's Division. One Brigade opposing Sedgwick's whole 
Corps ! Wilcox fell back on the army slowly until he 
reached Salem Church about five miles west of Fredericks- 
burg. McLaws' Division and Mahone's Brigade of Ander- 
son's Division were sent to reinforce Wilcox and reached 
him at Salem Church early in the afternoon. A defensive 
line was formed with the brigades of Kershaw and Wofford 
on Wilcox's right and those of Semmes and Mahone on his 
left. Sedgwick had one full Federal Corps and part of 
another. The Federals advanced in three strong lines, but 
their assault was met with the utmost firmness. Each of 
the three lines received a disastrous repvilse and the entire 
mass fled in confusion. They were pursued by Wilcox's and 
Semmes' Brigades for a mile, until the pursuing Confed- 
erates struck the Enemy's reserves in large force. Dark 
drawing near, Wilcox determined not to attack and re- 
turned to his original position. While this was going on, 
Early had retaken all of his positions around Fredericks- 
burg and moved up to threaten Sedgwick's left. Anderson, 



CHANCELLORS VILLE CAMPAIGN 139 

with the rest of his Division, was sent, May 4th, to rein- 
force the troops at Salem Church which he reached about 
noon. He was directed to gain the left flank of the Fed- 
erals and effect junction with Early. At 6 P. M. the at- 
tack commenced, Anderson and Early driving Sedgwick's 
troops rapidly before them, across the plank road, in the 
direction of the river. Darkness prevented McLaws from 
perceiving this success and the Enemy began to cross 
the Rappahannock River near Banks' Ford before he 
learned it. Kershaw's and Wofford's Brigades advanced, 
but the retreat of the Federals was so rapid they only fol- 
lowed in pursuit. Wilcox, with two of his Regiments and 
Kershaw's Brigade proceeded nearly to the river, capturing 
a number of prisoners. Next morning it was found that 
General Sedgwick and his force had made their escape, 
Fredericksburg had been evacuated and Lee's rear was no 
longer in danger. This relieved McLaws' and Anderson's 
Divisions, which returned to the Army at Chancellorsville. 

At daylight on May 5th, it was discovered that, under 
the cover of night. Hooker's entire Army had retreated 
across the Rappahannock, a movement doubtless caused by 
the failure of Sedgwick's assault on Lee's rear. The hosts 
of Hooker, who had marched out to overwhelm the Con- 
federate Army of less than half their numbers, by the 
superb strategy of Lee and the gallantry of his boys in 
gray, had been entirely defeated and had again failed to 
reach Richmond. The tired, weary, ragged, footsore Con- 
federates, returned in triumph to their old quarters near 
Fredericksburg, to enjoy the three R's of Army elementary 
Arithmetic — rest, repose and (possibly) rations. 

The magnificent strategy as well as the tactical skill 
of Lee in this short campaign has won for him the plaudits 
of the world. It has placed him in the front rank of the 
Generals of all ages. It required a high order of military 
genius to, with but 57,000 men, badly equipped, defeat an 



140 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Army of 132,000 men, fully supplied with every needed 
War munition. 

The Confederates had piled up victory on victory ; every 
campaign of the Army of Northern Virginia, save that of 
Sharpsburg, having terminated with complete success ; and 
now it had capped the climax with this unparalleled achieve- 
ment. At Chancellorsville should be placed the high water 
mark of the Confederacy, not at Gettysburg. But, alas ! 
within sixty days the tide had turned. Gettysburg, so far 
as the battle itself was concerned, was a drawn battle and 
thereafter, even the victories of the Confederates, were 
fruitless of results, until at last, wearied and worn out, the 
glorious Sun of the Army of Northern Virginia set forever 
at Appomattox. 

General Anderson and his Division had a most important 
part to act in the eight fateful days of the Chancellorsville 
Campaign. They did their part well. The only Division 
Commander mentioned by General Lee in his report of the 
Campaign, was General Anderson. Of him, General Lee 
said: "Maj. Gen. R. H. Anderson, was also distinguished 
for the promptness, courage and skill with which he and his 
Division executed every order." Of the only two Brigadier 
Generals he mentions, one was General Wilcox of Ander- 
son's Division. 

The signal services rendered by General Anderson and 
his Division were many ; but standing out most prominently 
were : 

Their checking Hooker's advance from Chancellorsville, 
April 30th, which gave -General Lee time to concen- 
trate his army to meet the Federal advance. This 
saved General Lee from disaster and possible defeat. 

Their driving the Enemy back to within a mile of Chan- 
cellorsville on May ist — for they led the advance. 



BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 141 

General Anderson's sending Wright's Brigade to flank the 
Enemy and thus make possible his and McLaws' ad- 
vance. 

Their steady holding the front, against overpowering odds, 
while Jackson was making his flank movement. 

Their gallant assault, which drove the Enemy from their 
fortified positions around Chancellorsville on May 3d. 

Their determined and effective support of McLaws' Di- 
vision at Salem Church, resulting in the complete de- 
feat of Sedgwick and the relief of General Lee from a 
seriously threatened rear attack, which had it been suc- 
cessful would not only have snatched victory from Lee 
at Chancellorsville, but perhaps have involved Lee and 
his Army and perhaps the entire Confederacy, in most 
serious trouble. 
Again General Anderson and his men "had saved the 

day." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Pennsylvania Campaign, Including Battle of 
Gettysburg. 

After the splendid victory at Chancellorsville, Lee's 
wearied Army had a few weeks' rest, which was as much 
enjoyed as it had been sorely needed. This gave Lee the 
opportunity to prepare his troops for the very arduous 
duties he was soon to call upon them to perform. Such 
preparation however could only be partially effective, for 
the small resources of our poor Confederacy had been nearly 
exhausted and it was impossible to obtain the equipment re- 
quired by an invading Army. Longstreet and his Corps had 
rejoined the Army during the month of May; The Army 
was reorganized into three Corps under Longstreet, Ewell 
and A. P. Hill. Anderson's Division was placed in A. P. 
Hill's Corps, with the Divisions of Heth and Pender. 

The military positions of the variovis armies of the Con- 
federacy at this time, were : Lee's Army was facing 
Hooker on the line of the Rappahannock, Bragg was con- 
fronting Rosencrans in Middle Tennessee and Vicksburg 
was being seriously threatened by Grant. To relieve the 
pressure upon Bragg and Pemberton, as well as to force 
back the Federal Army under Hooker, it was decided that 
Lee should strike the Enemy on his own soil, by invading 
Pennsylvania. The movement had the official consent of 
the Confederate Authority at Richmond, but it is very 



PENNSYLVANIA AND GETTYSBURG 143 

doubtful if it had its cordial approval, and certainly the 
Confederate Government failed to make such co-operative 
movements in Northern Virginia, as Lee desired and re- 
quested. If these had been made, different results would 
most probably have attended the Campaign. 

Lee commenced his movement June 3, 1863. A. P. Hill's 
Corps was left at Fredericksburg to watch the threatening 
movement which Hooker was making there, which how- 
ever he abandoned on June 14th, which relieved Hill's 
Corps, and allowed it to promptly join Lee. Hill's Corps 
moved down the Valley, crossing the Potomac June 24th, 
and passed through Hagerstown and Chambersburg to 
Fayetteville, where it rested until July 1st. 

From Chambersburg General Lee issued a General Order 
to his troops, relating to their conduct in the Enemy's 
country, which was worthy of his noble, gracious heart. 
In it he says : "It must be remembered that we make war 
only upon armed men and that we cannot take vengeance 
for the vv^rongs our people have suffered, without lowering 
ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been ex- 
cited by the atrocities of our enemies, and oft'ending against 
Him, to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor 
and support our efforts must all prove vain." 

Soon after daylight of July ist, Anderson's Division was 
moved to Cashtown, reaching there early in the afternoon 
and after resting for about an hour, moved on to Gettys- 
burg. Reaching near that point, they were placed in a posi- 
tion in reserve, recently vacated by Pender's Division. On 
the morning of the 2nd July the Division was moved for- 
ward about a mile and a half and placed on Seminary Ridge 
to the right of Pender and facing Cemetery Hill, the line 
being nearly parallel with the Emetsburg Road. The order 
of Brigades from right to left was, Wilcox's, Perry's 
Wright's, Posey's and Mahone's. Longstreet was formed 
on their right, his line running at right angles to Ander- 



144 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

son's, McLaws' Division being on Longstreet's left. Long- 
street was ordered to sweep down on the Enemy's left 
flank and when the advance reached Anderson, his Brigades 
were individually and successively to join in the attack. All 
this was carried out as ordered, though the movement was 
begun rather later in the day than was good for the Con- 
federates. The evidence is clear that General Lee intended 
this assault to be made early in the day and it was not made 
until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. General Longstreet in pub- 
lications emanating from him since the War claims the 
contrary. The just criticisms of military authorities evi- 
dently clouded the memory of the distinguished General. 
He was at the time of the battle opposed to the movement 
ordered by General Lee and even went so far as to begin 
what he thought a better plan, which was only checked by 
General Lee's explicit orders. He certainly was slow in 
executing the orders he received. It was attended with 
momentous import to the Confederate Army. If he had at- 
tacked early in the day, as ordered, he would have occupied 
Little Round Top. without opposition, which was the key 
to the whole of Meade's position, and he never could have 
maintained his front on Cemetery Ridge were the Confed- 
erates in possession of Little Round Top. Batteries sta- 
tioned there would have enfiladed the entire Federal line on 
Cemetery Ridge. Federal General Warren discovered its 
importance and had troops brought up, possible by Long- 
street's delay. So it can be safely said that General War- 
ren saved the day for Meade and General Longstreet lost 
it for Lee. 

General Anderson in his report says : "Never did troops 
go into action with greater spirit or more determined cour- 
age. The ground afforded them but little shelter and for 
nearly three quarters of a mile, they were compelled to face 
a storm of shot and shell and bullets, but there was no hesi- 
tation nor faltering. They drove the Enemy from his first 



PENNSYLVANIA AND GETTYSBURG 145 

line and possessed themselves of the ridge and of much 
artillery, with which it had been covered, but the situation 
discovered the Enemy in possession of a second line, with 
artillery upon both our front and flank. From this position 
he poured a destructive tire of grape upon our troops. 
Strong reinforcements pressed upon our right flank, which 
had become disconnected from McLaws' left and the ridge 
was untenable. The Brigades were compelled to retire. 
The Enemy did not follow. In Wilcox's, Perry's and 
Wright's Brigades the loss was very heavy." Wilcox's Bri- 
gade in this day's battle lost 577 and Perry's Brigade, which 
carried in 700 men, lost 455. 

The position thus captured by these three Brigades of 
Anderson's Division, was the same which Pickett's and 
Pettigrew's two Divisions failed to carry the next day. 
(See Report of General Wright.) If Anderson's Brigades 
had been properly supported they would have held a crucial 
l)oint of Meade's line, after having pierced and broken it 
and there never would have been a necessity for the galling 
assault of the third day's battle, the praise of which has 
rung down the annals of history, as an evidence of the 
highest heroism of the Confederates. Three Brigades of 
Anderson's Division had captured a position which two 
solid Divisions, the next day, failed to reach ! 

In the next day's battle, the center of Lee's Army was but 
slightly engaged and Anderson's Division took no very ac- 
tive part. When Pickett's and Pettigrew's Divisions made 
their famous assault, Anderson was ordered to be ready to 
render any assistance or to take advantage of any success 
gained. General Anderson moved forward Wilcox's and 
Perry's Brigades and was about to move Wright's and 
Posey's when General Longstreet stopped him as the as- 
sault had failed. 

The Brigades of Wilcox and Wright were more actively 
engaged on this day than an}- others of Anderson's Di- 



146 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

vision. Gen. Cadmus M. Wilcox in his official report thus 
describes his movements on that day : "I beg to report that 
early in the morning, before sunrise, the brigade was or- 
dered out to support artillery under command of Colonel 
Alexander, this artillery being placed along the Emmetts- 
burg turnpike and on ground won from the Enemy the day 
before. My men had had nothing to eat since the morning 
of the 2nd. and had confronted and endured the dangers and 
fatigues of that day. They nevertheless moved to the front 
to the support of the artillery as ordered. The Brigade was 
formed in line parallel to the Emmettsburg turnpike and 
about two hundred yards from it, the artillery being in front 
and much of it on the road and extending far beyond either 
flank of the Brigade. My men occupied this position till 
about 3 :20 P. M. Our artillery opened fire upon the 
Enemy's artillery and upon ground supposed to be occu- 
pied by his infantry. This fire was responded to promptly 
by the Enemy's artillery and continued with the greatest vi- 
vacity on either side for about one hour. In no previous 
battle of the war had we so much artillery engaged, and 
the Enemy seemed not to be inferior in quantity." Pickett 
now advances. "The advance had not been made more than 
20 or 30 minutes before three staff officers in quick succes- 
sion (one from the Major General Comdg. Division) gave 
me orders to advance to the support of Pickett." The bri- 
gade, composed of only 1,200 men, advanced, and on reach- 
ing the Pike could see nothing of Pickett, but moved on 
"down the slope until they came near the hill upon which 
were the Enemy's batteries and entrenchments." No support 
being received and their flanks being threatened, the brigade 
fell back. 

Gen. A. R. Wright says in his official report: "Late in 
the afternoon it (his brigade) was moved forward 500 or 
600 yards to cover the retreat of Pickett's Division, which 
had assaulted the Enemy's position at the same point where 



PENNSYLVANIA AND GETTYSBURG 147 

my brigade had advanced the day before and had been 
forced to retire. Soon after I was ordered by General Lee 
to move my brigade to the right, several hundred yards 
and form in rear of Wilcox's brigade, to support the latter 
in case the Enemy should advance upon it and which was 
now threatened. In this position I remained until after 
nightfall, when I retired to my original position in line 
of battle upon the hill." 

In closing his report on the Campaign, General Anderson 
pays this glowing and well deserved tribute to his splendid 
Division and to their fine conduct while in the Enemy's 
country : "The conduct of the troops under, my command, 
was in the highest degree praise-worthy and commendable 
throughout the campaign. Obedient to the orders of the 
Commanding General, they refrained from taking into their 
own hands retaliation upon the Enemy for the inhuman 
wrongs and outrages inflicted upon them, in the wanton de- 
struction of their property and homes. Peaceable inhabi- 
tants suffered no molestation. In a land of plenty, they 
often suffered hunger and want. One-fourth of their num- 
ber marched ragged and barefooted through towns in which 
it was well ascertained that the merchants had concealed 
supplies of clothing. In battle they lacked none of that 
courage and spirit which has ever distinguished the sol- 
diers of the Army of Northern Virginia, and if complete 
success did riot attend their efforts, their failure cannot be 
laid upon their shortcomings, but must be recognized and 
accepted as the will and decree of the Almighty disposer of 
human affairs." 

Anderson's Division gallantly took part in many of the 
defensive movements covering Lee's retreat into Virginia, 
arriving July 25th. at Culpepper Court House, where they 
went into camp. The total loss of the Division in the en- 
tire campaign amounted to 2,266 of which 2,115 was lost 



148 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

in the battle of Gettysburg and nearly all in the heroic 
fight of July 2nd. 

It has been the almost universal result of want of suc- 
cess in military movements to remove the General Com- 
manding and substitute some other. The Federals did that 
in their Virginia Army, changing, changing, until a man 
was found who could handle that Army, carry out the 
wishes of the Government and was willing to do it in the 
heartless manner, the ruling powers desired. But instances 
are seldom found where a Commanding General, voluntarily 
resigned his command, because he thought it to the best in- 
terests of the cause he was defending. But no other Army 
in the history of the world had at its head a Robert E. Lee — 
one both great and good. After the failure of the Con- 
federate invasion of Pennsylvania, General Lee asked Presi- 
dent Davis to relieve him from command. He wrote to 
Mr. Davis, that "The general remedy for want of success 
in a military Commander, is removal. This is natural and 
in many instances proper. For, no matter what may be the 
ability of an officer if he loses the confidence of his troops, 
disaster must sooner or later ensue." He continued, *T 
therefore, in all sincerity request your Excellency to supply 
my place. I do this with the more earnestness because no 
one is more aware of my inabilities for the duties of my 
position. I cannot even accomplish what I myself desire." 
Then he refers to his physical weakness from his previous 
sickness. "Everything, therefore, points to the advantage 
to be derived from a new commander, and I the more 
anxiously urge the matter upon your Excellency from my 
belief that a younger and abler man than myself can readily 
be obtained. I know that he will have as gallant and brave 
an army as ever existed to second his efforts and it would be 
the happiest day of my life to see at its head a worthy 
leader — one that could accomplish more than I could per- 
form and all that I have wished. I hope your Excellency 



PENNSYLVANIA AND GETTYSBURG 149 

will attribute my request to the true reason — the desire to 
serve my country and to do all in my power to insure the 
success of her righteous cause !" President Davis, of course, 
declined to relieve General Lee, and wrote in reply, partly : 
"But suppose, my dear friend, that I were to admit, with 
all their implications, the i)oints which you present, where 
am I to find that new Commander who is to possess the 
greater ability which you believe to be required? To ask 
me to substitute you by some one in my judgment more fit 
to command, or who would i)Ossess more of the confidence 
of the army or of reflecting men of the country, is to de- 
mand an impossibility !" 

Longstreet writes General Lee : "Our affections for you 
are stronger, if it is possible for them to be stronger, than 
our admiration for you." 

The Army would have risen in revolt if it had been 
called upon to give up General Lee. 

The battle of Gettysburg has been often rated as the de- 
cisive battle of the War. But was it? Let us consider it 
most carefully. First we must definitely ascertain what 
constitutes a "decisive battle." Creacy in his "Fifteen De- 
cisive Battles of the World," quotes the distinguished and 
authoritative historian, Mallam, as defining a decisive bat- 
tle "as one of those few batt'es of which a contrary event 
would have essentially varied the drama of tlie world in its 
subsequent scenes." Under this definition let us analyze 
ihij battle. It is generally conceded that in a battle the 
force which rtniains upon ihe field, wlictiier its opponents 
voluntarily n'ithdraw or are driven thcicfrom, is fairly en- 
taitled to Uie credit of being the winner. As the Confeder- 
ates, voluntarily, withdrew and the Federal Army remained 
upon the field. Gettysburg has been generally claimed as a 
Union victoiy. But judged by the events on the field only, 
without considering the Confederate withdrawal, the fight 
was a drawn battle. The Confederates on the first and 



150 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

second days, certainly had the best of the Federal forces 
and on the third day, were not assaulted, but only failed 
in a partial assault, to break the Enemy's line. At the close 
of this day each Army occupied the same positions as they 
had held at the opening of the day and on the fourth day 
the same positions were maintained, without any attempt 
by either to assault. When Lee retired on the night of the 
fourth day, the Enemy did not vigorously pursue, which in- 
dicated their crippled condition. Meade knew the military 
advantage, — yea, necessity — of prompt and active pursuit, 
so, when he did not press the retiring Confederates, it is 
fair to assume that his army had been so injured, that it 
was not in a condition to undertake the active movements 
necessary. So it is reasonable to say that the battle of 
Gettysburg, not the Pennsylvania campaign, but that single 
battle, was a drawn one. 

What would have been the results if it had been other- 
wise? Wovdd the contrary event "have essentially varied 
the drama of the world in its subsequent scenes? The 
"contrary event" of a drawn battle would have been the 
absolute defeat of either Army. If the Union Army had 
been defeated, it is barely possible that the effect may have 
been to end the War. But it is infinitely more probable 
that the invasion of Northern territory would have caused 
in the North, as it had in the South, for they were the same 
race of people, such a patriotic enthusiasm as would have 
brought millions to the defence of their homes. If on the 
other hand, the Confederate Army had been defeated, it 
would merely have retired from the Enemy's country, prob- 
ably in much worse shape than it did and again faced their 
Enemy on their own soil. So neither "subsequent event" 
would have made the battle "decisive" under Hallam's defi- 
nition. 

With the utmost deference to the high authority of Hal- 
lam, his definition does not properly define a "decisive bat- 



PENNSYLVANIA AND GETTYSBURG 151 

tie." It should be defined : "One which absolutely decided 
the War being waged and practically ended it, as did Water- 
loo. By this latter definition Gettysburg was less, if pos- 
sible, of a decisive battle than even by Hallam's — for the 
War was continued for nearly two years after Gettysburg. 
The Confederates were not crushed thereby and subse- 
quently defended their country and maintained its cause, 
by such herculean efforts, as to cost the Federals the loss 
of more men, than were in Meade's Army at Gettysburg. 
The battle of Gettysljurg- was in no sense a decisive battle. 

Reviewing the entire history of the War, not a single 
battle was fought, which was decisive, as to the great 
issues involved, saving the Campaign which ended at Ap- 
pomattox. There were many decisive of lesser issues, which 
as a whole, made np the final success of the Federal Armies. 
Sharpsburg and Gettysburg decided that the Confederates 
could not invade the North ; the fall of Vicksburg, that 
the Mississippi River should be open to the Union Navies 
and the trans-Mississippi States be cut off from the rest of 
the Confederacy ; Manassas, Fredericksburg and Chancel- 
lorsville, that the direct march across the Virginia plains 
was an impracticable one for the Union forces to reach 
Richmond. 

In fact, the War could hardly have been decided by any 
one battle. The operations covered too vast a field and 
each Army was too, comparatively, independent of the 
other. In addition to the great distances there was very 
little co-operation in action and aims between the different 
Armies of the Confederacy — as perhaps there should have 
been. Not thus working together on common general plans, 
the failure or success of any one Army was of little im- 
mediate consequence to the others, certainly if such did not 
involve its total destruction. So the Government at Wash- 
ington had but one way to end the War, by superior num- 
bers and resources, to overpower all the Armies and over- 



152 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

run all parts of the Confederacy, killing its men and de- 
stroying its resources. When this was decided on and the 
means gathered to effect it, the end came. The Confed- 
erates, as General Gordon said, had fought to a frazzle. 

Erected on the battlefield of Gettysburg, near the point 
where Pickett's and Pettigrew's Divisions struck the Union 
lines, is a tablet marking the so-called and improperly 
called "High Water Mark of the W^ar." This is as great 
a misnomer as that Gettysburg was a decisive battle. In 
effectiveness and results, the High Water Mark, as has al- 
ready been said in a previous chapter, for the Confederates 
should be at Chancellorsville and for the Union forces at 
Appomattox. Each reached its greatest strength, morale 
and achievement at those places. After Chancellorsville the 
Confederate Sun had crossed the meridian and was grad- 
ually setting. U]) to Appomattox the Union forces were 
gathering day by day power and effectiveness. So, as, 
of course, the High Water Mark will not be removed 
from Gettysburg, let the South erect its High Water Mark 
on the field of its greatest skill, bravery and glory, Chancel- 
lorsville, and if the other side wishes it, let its high water 
mark be at Appomattox, where they finally crushed the 
Supporters of the old federation as it originally was and 
raised in its place the present centralized Nation. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Campaign of Manoeuvres in Northern Virginia 
IN 1863. 

Meade's advance, in response to importunate orders from 
Washington, forced Lee from his rest in the Valley, to 
meet his foe about Culpeper Court House. But here en- 
sued a period of comi)arative repose, until Lee, October 9, 
1863, commenced, what the historian Swinton most aptly 
denominates the "Campaign of Manoeuvres." Lee, by such 
strategical movements forced Meade back almost to the de- 
fences of Washington, but there he found it impossible to 
feed his Army and he was forced to return to his former 
position South of the Rapidan, and went into winter quar- 
ters. But Meade just would not remain quiet and let the 
bovs enjoy their well-earned rest and on November 25th. 
moved on Lee's right. This was. for him unfortunately 
and from unforseen circumstances, so tardily executed that 
Lee was enabled to form a strong line of defence along the 
Mine Run, which Meade found impracticable to assault 
and withdrew without battle. 

During all of these marches and skirmishes General 
Anderson and his men took their full share of all the dan- 
gers, trials, sufferings of the campaign. However they 
were called upon for nothing but the usual skill and brav- 
ery required of soldiers of Lee's Army. They were in a 
small affair at Bristoe Station, which is described in a 



154 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

paper of the General's, which has been preserved and is 
evidently the original draft of his official report, which 
hereafter follows : 

"Headquarters near Rappahannock Sta., Va., 

Oct. 21st, '63. 

"At half past two o'clock in the afternoon of the 14th. 
Inst., when near Bristow Station, I received orders from 
the Lt. Gen. Corndg. the Third Corps, to send Mcintosh's 
Battalion of Artillery to the front and to move two Bri- 
gades of my Division to the right of the road by which we 
had been approaching the Station, to intercept a column of 
the Enemy's troops which was moving along the Rail Road 
towards the Station. Posey's and Perry's Brigades were 
immediately put in motion through a piece of woods to 
execute the order, but before they arrived within striking 
distance the Enemy moved off at a double quick and dis- 
appeared in a piece of pine forest near the Rail Road. 

The Brigades continued to advance toward the Rail Road 
in the direction which had been indicated by Lt. Gen. 
Hill, until they found the enemy strongly posted behind 
the Railroad embankments and cuts, with a battery of 
Artillery so planted as to enfilade the road and sweep the 
open piece of ground between them and ourselves. 

"The column which I had been directed to intercept had 
got into position along the Rail Road and I halted the 
troops until I could examine the ground between them and 
the enemy. Whilst so engaged I met Brig. Gen. Long, who 
proposed to place some of his Artillery upon a slight emi- 
nence which afforded a good position for Artillery. To this 
I gladly assented as I deemed it necessary to the further 
advance of the troops of my command. 

"At this time I received notice that the troops of the 
Second Corps were coming up on my right and I was di- 
rected to form a line of battle so as to connect my right with 



NORTHERN VIRGINIA IN 1863 155 

the left of that Corps. The other brigades of my Division 
were then ordered up and the Hne was formed as quickly 
as the nature of the ground would permit. During these 
movements of my command Heth's Division became hotly 
engaged and a brigade of his troops near the left of my 
Division was driven back. The Enemy's Skirmishers ad- 
vanced through the gap and General Long found it impos- 
sible to post his Artillery. Perry's Brigade checked the 
farther advance of the Enemy and Mahone's was put in 
motion to regain the ground from which our men had been 
driven, but before it reached the place it was re-occupied 
by another Brigade of Heth's Division. Perry's and Posey's 
Brigades then drove back the Enemy's line of Skirmishers, 
and General Long's Artillery got into position, but it was 
now nearly dark and after a few minutes cannonading to 
which the Enemy replied warmly, the firing was discon- 
tinued. The troops of my Division remained in line of bat- 
tle during the night. In the morning the Enemy were 
gone. I regret to report that in this affair Capt. Thomas L. 
Barraud (written very indistinctly and this may not be cor- 
rect) of the Eleventh Virginia, an excellent officer, was 
killed and Brig. General Perry and Lieut. Col. Baya, 
Comdg. the 8th Fla. received severe wounds, the former in 
the left thigh, and the latter in the right hip, and Capt. A. 
K. Jones, 12th Miss, was wounded in the right leg. The 
total casualties were eleven killed and forty-three wounded." 

On the night of December 2, 1863, the Enemy retired 
from Lee's front, and both Armies returned to their canton- 
ments, and quiet reigned during the remainder of the win- 
ter. For the Confederates plenty of quiet but very little of 
comfort. They contended with foes harder to fight than 
the hosts in blue. "These were want of food and want of 
clothing, which they met and endured, with heroic forti- 
tude in the log cabins that they constructed from the trees 
of the surrounding forests and on beds of straw, mainly 



156 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

without blankets, but fortunately with abundant supplies 
of fuel near at hand. The rations were reduced to a mini- 
mum ; a quarter of a pound of pork and a scant portion of 
meal or flour per day, to a man — and even this was some- 
times wanting. Lee not only dwelt among his men, in sim- 
ple fashion, but fared as they fared, saying, when luxuries 
were sent him, as they often were, and which he invariably 
sent to the sick and wounded in hospitals, 'I am content to 
share the rations of my men.' " 

"The lustre of the heroic virtues of the Army of North- 
ern Virginia was brightened and heightened by their sub- 
lime faith. A marked spirit of devotion characterized every 
portion of it. From nearly every tent and cabin could be 
heard the voice of prayer and the singing of hymns of de- 
votion. Not only Army Chaplains, but the best and ablest 
of the preachers of the Gospel from all accessible parts 
of the Confederacy ministered in the rude army churches 
to the soul hunger of Lee's reverent and most of them 
God-serving, oflicers and men." 

General Anderson was imbued with a deep and pious 
devotion, which led him to active participation in these 
religious services and shared with his men the reverent 
feelings which prevailed throughout the Camps. Gov. Wm. 
E. Cameron, who was sleeping in the same room with him 
at Chancellorsville the night of April 29th., bears testimony 
to the piety of the Christian Soldier, when he said: "At 
midnight, General Anderson, after reading a chapter from 
the big family Bible on a center table in the chamber, 
turned in and slept until 4 o'clock." This was when Gen- 
eral Anderson, with three Brigades was confronting three 
Army Corps of Hooker's Army and so manoeuvering as 
to delay their advance until General Lee could concentrate 
his forces. He was not only so tranquil that he could sleep 



NORTHERN VIRGINIA IN 1863 157 

the few hours he could spare from his duties, but before 
closing his eyes, sought his Master's presence and poured 
out to him his fervent prayers ! 

''His pure thoughts were borne 
Like fumes of sacred incense o'er the clouds, 
And wafted thence on angel's wings, thro' ways 
Of light to the bright source of all." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Campaign From the Rapidan to Petersburg, Including 

THE Battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania 

AND Second Cold Harbor. 

All other commanders of the Union Armies having failed 
to overcome Lee and his magnificent Army, the Uniited 
States Government called their greatest and most success- 
ful General, Ulysses S. Grant, to undertake the stupendous 
task. They gave him practically carte blanche, all the men 
he would need to replace those his heartless tactics de- 
stroyed and also all the best munitions and equipment he 
demanded. The keynote of Grant's previous success had 
been that he never would strike until amply prepared. His 
skill would hardly have overmatched Lee's, but the liberal 
supply of men and means at last overcame the Confederate 
Army, exhausted as was the country of soldiers, food, 
clothing and munitions. So, early in May, 1864, having 
assumed command. Grant opened his "on to Richmond" 
Campaign. Until Grant settled in front of Petersburg and 
laid siege to the city, the campaign was one of continuous 
manoeuvering, and in such movements, there was almost 
continuous butting of the. Federals against the Army of 
Lee and always with terrible losses to the Federal Army. 
It cost Grant the loss of sixty-five thousand men to flank 
and force Lee back to^ Petersburg. 

When the campaign commenced and Lee moved to meet 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO PETERSBURG 159 

Grant, "Anderson's Division was left to guard the fords of 
the Rapidan until the Confederate Cavalry reached Stevens- 
burg, when it moved towards the Wilderness and on the 
night of May 5th. rested at Verdiersville. Early on the 
next morning it was ordered up, moving by the Plank Road 
and reached the vicinity of the battlefield a little after sun- 
rise of May 6th. and halted for about an hour to wait the 
passage of the rear of Longstreet's Corps, which had filed 
into the road. "We," (Anderson's Division, this description 
being a quotation from a private letter of General Ander- 
son, written May 14,(18/9), "shortly afterward arrived at 
the scene of action. M}' Division was not engaged as a 
whole body. It had no sooner arrived, than orders were 
received to send one brigade to reinforce Longstreet on 
the right of the plank road and another to report to A. P. 
Hill on the left of the same road and to move up two other 
brigades in line of battle at a right angle with the road, the 
right resting on the road, and to attack. Mahone was sent 
to Longstreet, Wright to Hill, Perrin and Perry moved to 
attack as directed and Platris was held in reserve. The at- 
tacking brigades were soon engaged and gained ground 
slowly until about midday, when there was a lull for some 
hours — both parties seeming disposed to be cautious on ac- 
count of the extent and density of the forest. At three 
o'clock a strong force was advanced against Perry's bri- 
gade, which was driven back some distance, until Harris 
came up and checked the advance.. There was only some 
skirmishing and desultory firing after this. Night was ap- 
proaching. Wright's Brigade had returned and was in re- 
serve on the plank road. On the 7th. no movement was 
made by the Division, up to the time when I was assigned 
to the command of Longstreet's Corps, a little after mid- 
day, if I remember correctly." Mahone's Brigade partici- 
pated in the movement conducted by Gen. M. L. Smith, 
around the enemy's left flank, completely turning the same 



160 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

and thus opened the way for Longstreet's advance on the 
plank road. While Longstreet was driving the Enemy be- 
fore him, by a fatal mistake he was wounded and Gen. 
Micah Jenkins killed, by our own men. The wounding of 
Lee's chief Lieutenant, stopped the victorious advance of 
the Confederates, which Longstreet thought — expressed in 
his book "From Manassas to Appomattox," thirty years 
afterward ! — would have driven Grant across the Rapidan. 
After the movement had been stopped by General Lee, for 
the adjustment of his lines. Gen. Richard H. Anderson, 
then commanding a Division in A. P. Hill's Corps, was 
sent for by General Lee and placed in command of Long- 
street's Corps. This Corps was then composed of the Di- 
visions of Kershaw and Field. In the former was Ker- 
shaw's old Brigade and in the latter, Jenkins' Brigade, both 
of South Carolinians and it must have been a source of 
intense gratification to the distinguished Corps Comman- 
der, a Son of Carolina, to have these two most gallant Bri- 
gades of men from his native State, under his command. 
Placing him in the command of the Corps, was a very high 
compliment to General Anderson, as the promotion was 
not because of Seniority but because of his rare skill, he 
being taken from a Division in the Third Corps to com- 
mand the First Corps. On June 10th. he was commissioned 
Lieutenant General. 

The intimate story of those splendid brigades of Wilcox, 
Wright, Posey, Mahone and Perry, which were under the 
immediate command of General Anderson and associated 
so intimately with his career as a Division Commander, 
must be parted with. Under his skillful direction, their 
gallantry won the fame of Anderson's Division. The repu- 
tation of a leader is lai-gely dependent upon the bravery of 
his followers, yet their valiant conduct would have been of 
no avail, without the skill of the leader's guiding hand. 
It was fortunate for General Anderson that his intelligent 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO PETERSBURG 161 

direction was carried to successful achievement by the 
bravest of the brave. Together they weaved the wreath of 
immortal glory, w'hich forever crowns the leader and his 
followers. Happy that General Anderson's good fortune 
was continued by his now having in the Corps to which he 
was elevated to command, so strong an array of fearless 
fighters, who could and would ever maintain the title he 
had won, on the field of battle, "Fighting Dick Anderson." 

After the battle of the Wilderness and just before that 
of Spottsylvania, Kershaw's old Brigade, handsomely sup- 
ported the Cavalry in an affair on the Brock Road, which 
retarded Warren's advance and enabled Anderson to reach 
the Court House before the enemy and entirely discon- 
certed Grant's plans. The Brigade "supported the cav- 
alry" and that usually meant that when the Infantry came 
up, the Cavalry retired from the front and allowed them to 
do the fighting. This is said generally, but it was not so 
always, and often when it was, it was perfectly correct. 
On this occasion one of Kershaw's Captains — Capt. D. A. 
Dickert, tells the story so admirably that it is quoted: 
"Soon we see an old Virginia gentleman, bareheaded and 
without shoes, riding in haste towards us. He reports that 
our Cavalry are holding the enemy back on Brock's Road, 
but that the Federal infantry are seen forming for the 
attack and of course our Cavalry cannot stand such a pres- 
sure. General Kershaw orders us forward at the double 
quick. Still we are not there. Then it was that a gallant 
cavalryman rushes to us and says, 'Run for our rail piles, 
the Federal infantry will reach them first, if you don't 
run.' Our men sprang forward as if by magic. We occu- 
pied the rail piles in time to see a column, a gallant column, 
moving towards us, about sixty yards away. Fire, deaden- 
ing fire, is poured into that column by our men. A gallant 
Federal officer rides just in rear directing the movement. 
'Pick that officer off his horse' is the command given to 



162 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

two or three of our cool marksmen. He falls. The column 
staggers and then falls back. Right here let me state a 
funny occurrence. Sim Price observed an old man, John 
Duckett, in the excitement, shooting his rifle high over the 
heads of the Yankees. This was too much for Sim Price 
and he said, 'Good God, John Duckett, are you shooting at 
the moon !' Enough of Kershaw's Brigade were not how- 
ever 'shooting at the moon,' but at the Enemy, so they soon 
drove off the Enemy and fully "supported the Cavalry." 

On May 7th. Grant having had enough of Lee at the 
Wilderness commenced to move Southwardly, or as Gen- 
eral Bratton so aptly styles it, "Slide," General Lee thought 
to Fredericksburg, but really to Spottsylvania Court House. 
General Anderson's Corps, at 11 P. M. withdrew from the 
line of battle and seeking a suitable place to bivouac 
marched along the new road, which General Lee had so 
wisely had opened and by daylight of the 8th, rested near 
Spottsylvania Court House. General Anderson describes 
this march in a private letter : : "Longstreet was severely 
wounded about midday on the 7th. and soon afterwards. 
General Lee placed me in command of his Corps and di- 
rected me to retire the troops quietly and as soon after 
nightfall as practicable, and when I should have reached a 
suitable place in rear of the line they had been occupying, 
to let them rest, but forbid fires or any noise that might give 
intelligence of the withdrawal. I was to move for Spottsyl- 
vania by a road which a guide would show me. Upon with- 
drawing the Corps from its place in line of battle (which 
I have previously stated was on the right of the plank 
road), I found the woods, in every direction on fire and 
burning furiously and there was no suitable place for rest. 
The road by which I was conducted was narrow and fre- 
quently obstructed so that at best the progress of the 
troops was slow and the guide having informed me that it 
preserved the same character until near Spottsylvania T de- 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO PETERSBURG 163 

cided to continue the march until I should be within easy 
reach of that place. At a little after daylight, about three 
miles from the Court House, I found some open fields and 
halted there to let the troops close up and rest a little. The 
orders had scarcely been given to this effect, when a courier 
from Fitzhugh Lee arrived with an urgent call from him to 
any troops that might be met, to come to his support with 
all speed, for his cavalry was hard pressed and could not 
hold the place much longer. Field's Division, which was 
leading and which by this time was pretty well closed up, 
resumed the march immediately at double quick. Before 
the head of his column could reach the Court House, a 
scout gave me information of the approach of a large body 
of U. S. Infantry from my left and sending Kershaw's 
Brigade to the support of Fitz Lee, I turned all the rest of 
Field's Division ofif to meet the approach from the left. 
Kershaw arrived in time to recover the Court House, from 
which Fitz Lee had been compelled to retire and as fast as 
the other troops of Longstreet's Corps came up they were 
pushed rapidly to the support of Field's Division and they 
maintained their position until Lee arrived with the main 
body of the Army." 

Providence certainly smiled upon General Anderson and 
his Corps and in fact upon the entire Confederacy, when 
the burning woods prevented an earlier rest and forced the 
march to near Spottsylvania Court House. Grant was 
moving for that place and the proximity of General Ander- 
son, at a critical moment, enabled him to forestall Grant 
and occupy that strategic position. Anderson's orders were 
to retire his Corps from the lines at the Wilderness, rest 
his men and then move on to Spottsylvania, but be.cause of 
the burning woods he could find no place to rest his men, 
so continued the march towards Spottsylvania. When near 
there he received Fitz Lee's call for help and with the in- 
stinct of a skillful General, he moved to his support, recap- 



164 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

tured the town and maintained his hold upon the same, in 
spite of most determined attacks from the Enemy. This 
was a terrible disappointment to Grant and as he says in his 
Memoirs entirely defeated his plans. He had aimed to cap- 
ture Spottsylvania and thus place his Army between Lee 
and Richmond. The prompt action of General Anderson 
defeated this movement, which had it been successful would 
have been attended with almost fatal consequences to the 
Army of Northern Virginia and to the Confederacy. Grant 
could have reached the Capital before its defenders could 
have interposed to save it from capture. 

Again, Anderson's command had saved the Situation ! 

With reference to this movement. Gen. U. S. Grant in his 
"Personal Memoirs," Vol. 2, pages 211 and 212, says: 

"Our wagon trains had been ordered easterly of the roads 
the troops were to march upon" (from the Wilderness) "be- 
fore the movement commenced. Lee interpreted this as a 
semi-retreat of the Army of the Potomac to Fredericksburg 
and so informed his government. Accordingly he ordered 
Longstreet's Corps — now commanded by Anderson — to 
move in the morning (the 8th.) to Spottsylvania. But the 
wood being still on fire Anderson could not go into bivouac 
and marched directly on to his destination that night. By 
this accident Lee got possession of Spottsylvania. It is im- 
possible to say now what would have been the result if 
Lee's orders had been obeyed as given, but it is certain that 
we would have been in Spottsylvania, and between them and 
his Capital. My belief is that there would have been a race 
between the two armies "to see which could reach Richmond 
first, and the Army of the Potomac would have had the 
shorter line. Thus twice since crossing the Rapidan we 
came near closing the campaign so far as battles were con- 
cerned, from the Rapidan to the James River or Richmond. 
The first failure was caused by our not following up the 
success gained over Hill's Corps on the morning of the 6th. 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO PETERSBURG 165 

as before described ; the second, when fires caused by that 
battle drove Anderson to make a march during the night 
of the 7th.-8th. which he was ordered to commence on the 
morning of the 8th. But accident often decides the fate 
of battle." If General Anderson had, as Grant says, obeyed 
Lee's orders as given, he would have put his troops into 
bivouac when he reached a suitable place and not have been 
able effectively to respond to the call of Gen. Fitz Lee for 
aid. But, acting on his own initiative he moved to Spott- 
sylvania which frustrated Grant's movement. It was also 
due to the foresight of Lee, for he had had the direct road 
to Spottsylvania only recently located, which made possible 
the proximity of Anderson's Corps. 

When Fields moved forward, Bratton's and Humphrey's 
brigades formed line to the left of the road and repulsed 
the Enemy. Wofford's and Bryan's brigades were sent by 
a detour and finally occupied the town. Ewell's Corps ar- 
rived in the afternoon and another attack was handsomely 
repulsed. During the night, the Confederates threw up rude 
and irregular defences along the emergency line they had 
taken, a part being formed after dark. General Lee rode 
along the line on the morning of the 9th and was favorably 
impressed. At Ewell's suggestion a somewhat elevated point 
near the right centre was taken into the lines and this be- 
came what was subsequently known as the "Bloody Angle." 
The general line extended from the Po River on the left, 
in the arc of a circle, running eastwardly across the Brock 
Road and the Po-Ny watershed to a branch of the Ny 
River, with the salient, the bloody angle, near its right cen- 
ter which was in horseshoe form, around the crest of a 
spur between two small branches of the Ny River. Ewell's 
Corps, less the men of Early's Division, were disposed with- 
in the salient and occupied the centre of the line. Hill's 
Corps was on the left and Anderson's on the right of Ewell. 



166 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Later, Early's Division came up and formed on the ex- 
treme right. 

As previously stated, this Story is that of General Ander- 
son and most properly of his command. So the general 
description of the battle is omitted and only that part taken 
by the units of Anderson's Corps, told. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon of May 10th a second 
massed attack v^^as made on the First Corps, on the line of 
the Brock Road, which met a bloody repulse. The story of 
Bratton's Brigade is a fair sample of what happened, gen- 
erally along the entire line. General Bratton in his Report 
describes vividly one of the terrific assaults, its gallant re- 
pulse and subsequent events thereto : "The morning of the 
12th. the Enemy assaulted us heavily, advancing beautifully 
in two lines of battle. We held our fire until they were with- 
in fifty yards of us, when, by a deliberate and well directed 
volley, a line of their dead was laid down across the front 
of my brigade, with the exception of one regiment, whose 
fire was well and deliberately put, but the Artillery opened 
a little too soon on this part of the line and caused the 
Enemy to drop behind a crest, just in time to evade the 
storm of minnie balls. The fusilade continued for some 
minutes and strewed the field with dead and wounded from 
their scattered and fleeing hordes. Many of those in the 
open field fled in comparative safety behind the crest al- 
luded to above (to their right and our left), to the woods 
and were massed partially in front of my two regiments 
(First and Fifth) still protected by this crest and the wood, 
from our infantry fire." (Now comes the amusing part, if 
any part of a battle can be amusing) : "They kept up an 
active fusilade, indeed a terrific war of musketry — all the 
while. Our men were quietly awaiting their appearance on 
the crest. This continued so long (for some hours) that 
we began to suspect that by some happy mistake they were 
fighting themselves. It seemed a heavy battle and we had 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO PETERSBURG 167 

nothing to do with it. Skirmishers from the First and Fifth 
Regiments were ordered up to the crest to discover what it 
meant. They found them lying behind the crest firing at 
what did not clearly appear, but they, with great gallantry 
charged them with a yell, and put the whole mass to flight, 
most precipitate and headlong, capturing some forty prison- 
ers. In their haste and panic a multitude of them ran across 
a portion of open field and gave our battery and my line of 
battle on the right a shot at them and that field also was 
thickly dotted with their dead and wounded." 

Referring to the battle, Gen. R. E. Lee advises the Secre- 
tary of War, from Spottsylvania C. H., May lo, 1864: 
"General Grant's Army is entrenched near this place, on 
both sides of the Brock Road. Frequent skirmishing oc- 
curred yesterday and to-day, each Army endeavoring to 
discover the position of the other. To-day the Enemy 
shelled our lines and made several assaults with infantry 
against different points particularly that part of the line 
held by Gen. R. H. Andeibon. The last, which occurred af- 
ter sunset was the most obstinate, some of the Enemy leap- 
ing over the breastworks. They were easily repulsed, ex- 
cept in front of Dole's Brigade, where they drove our men 
from the position and from a four gun battery there posted. 
The men were soon rallied and by dark our line was re-es- 
tablished and the battery recovered." 

During the night of the 11th, there was an amusing inci- 
dent in Kershaw's Brigade : "Lest a night attack might be 
made, one-third of the men were kept in the trenches all of 
the time, day and night." At night the men would sleep just 
in rear of the trench. "This night a stafif officer stole quietly 
to where a Colonel and his Adjutant were lying and whis- 
pered : Tt is thought that the Enemy have gotten between 
our outposts and the breastworks and intend to make a 
night attack. So awaken the men and put every one in the 
trenches.' The Colonel went to one end of the line and the 



168 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Adjutant to the other and soon had our trenches manned. 
The Colonel was observed full of laughter and when ques- 
tioned stated that on going to the left wing he came across 
a soldier, with some small branches kindled into a blaze 
making himself a cup of coffee. He spoke to him, saying: 
'Who is that?' The soldier replied, not recognizing the 
Colonel's voice: 'Who in the h- -1 are you?' The Colonel 
said : 'Don't you know the Yankees are between the pickets 
and the breastworks and will soon attack our whole line !' 
He reported the man at these words saying : 'Jesus Christ, 
Colonel,' rolling over and over as he spoke, and he never 
stopped rolling until he fell into the pit at the works. Never 
was a revolution in sentiment and action more quickly 
wrought than on this occasion with the soldier." 

On May I2th. all along the entire line, attack followed 
charge, only to be repulsed, except at the "Bloody Angle," 
where after a most heroic defence by the Confederates, it 
was captured by the Enemy. There was a steady and con- 
tinuous roar of artillery and small guns from early daylight 
until late in the afternoon, when night closed upon the scene 
of strife. Save at the "Bloody Angle," Grant's innumer- 
able hosts were unable to gain any foothold. But that point 
was not held for long. Gordon heroically pushed forward 
and drove the Enemy from the eastern face, McGowan's, 
Posey's, (under command of Col. N. H. Harris) and Ram- 
seur's Brigades rushed forward and from opposite sides 
of the breastworks a bloody struggle continued all day, with 
unflinching desperation on either side, fairly filling the 
trenches and piling their borders on each side with the slain 
and wounded. Posey's Brigade, of Anderson's Corps, a 
gallant body of Mississippiarts was led by Col. N. H. Har- 
ris and charged under a most deadly fire up to and occu- 
pied the works. A destructive enfilade fire from those Fed- 
erals who were still in another part of the works, threat- 
ened to make their position untenable, but with bulldog 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO PETERSBURG 169 

tenacity they held on, until relieved the next afternoon, re- 
pulsing repeated and desperate attempts of the Enemy to 
dislodge them. 

After the battle. General Anderson received from General 
Lee an autograph letter thanking him for the masterly 
handling of his Corps and commending his men for their 
gallantry. General Anderson published to his Corps the 
flattering praise of the Commanding General for their val- 
iant deeds but suppressed the just encomium General Lee 
had paid to him personally ! 

Grant's efforts to dislodge Lee in front of Spottsylvania 
having totally failed, on May 21st. he continued his move- 
ment eastwardly until he struck the railroad and then he 
moved southwardly. Lee met this by taking a strong posi- 
tion south of the North Anna River and near Hanover 
Junction, which he reached by May 22d. In this position 
there was heavy cannonading and some active skirmishing, 
but no serious assault. On May 27th. it was ascertained 
that the Enemy had left Lee's front and was flanking him 
on his right. Lee promptly met the movement and on the 
next day had the First and Second Corps in line of battle 
between the Totopotomy and Chickahominy. On June 1st. 
Grant made an attack, driving back Lee's first line, but was 
checked by the Confederate second line. Grant then moved 
to Cold Harbor, which was as fatal to the hopes of the 
Union forces as Manassas, at both of which the Federals 
were twice disastrously defeated. At Cold Harbor ended 
the Federal "On to Richmond" by any route North of the 
James. Grant crossed the James and then commenced the 
long and memorable siege of Petersburg, the defence of 
which was practically the closing of the Confederacy's noble 
struggle for national existence. 

June 2nd. Lee's center in the battle of Cold Harbor was 
held by Anderson with his own Corps and Hoke's Division, 
which was temporarily attached. The line of battle ran 



170 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

across the River Road, between New and Old Cold Harbor, 
facing Eastward and covering one of the highways to Rich- 
mond. The Corps of Breckinridge and Hill extended to the 
right as far as the Chickahominy, while the Second Corps, 
now under Early, extended the line to the left, covering the 
road leading from the Northeast and was strengthened on 
its left by Heth's Division of the Third Corps. In the af- 
ternoon Early was directed to assail Grant's right, but found 
him behind formidable works, but as his ofifer of open bat- 
tle was not accepted, he built strong earthworks and spent 
the night of June 2nd. therein. Lee's veterans had by this 
time become skillful military engineers and of their own 
impulse had thrown up lines of defence, abounding in sali- 
ents whence heavy guns could send forth searching cross- 
fires at short range, against every position of an attacking 
enemy. The infantry were well provided with loop holes and 
crevices between the logs from which to fire, also at short 
range with deliberate aim. Hunger but made them fiercer 
combatants and as Grant's great host advanced, it was met 
all along the line by such a furious fire from artillery and 
infantry, that no body of soldiers, no matter how brave or 
determined, could long withstand. Hancock assailed Lee's 
right with double line of battle followed by supports. His 
daring men rushed forward, captured one of Lee's salients, 
which Breckinridge recovered by a prompt fire of artillery, 
under which 3,000 of Hancock's men fell upon the field. 
The equally bold assault upon Lee's center and left met 
with the same fate and within ten minutes the whole front 
of Grant's line of assault was shattered and his troops in 
dismay, fled to cover. Grant ordered another attack and 
his troops refused to move." Describing his share in this 
bloody repulse, General Anderson says : "Meanwtime the 
Enemy is heavily massed in front of Kershaw's salient. 
Generals G. T. Anderson's, Lewis' and Gregg's brigades are 
there to support Kershaw. Assault after assault is made 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO PETERSBURG 171 

and each time repulsed with severe loss to the Enemy. At 
8 P. M. fourteen had been made and repulsed. At dark a 
final and furious assault was made on the right of Hoke, 
which was gallantly repulsed." 

Grant's aggregate loss between the Rapidan and the 
James, up to June 18th. was nearly 65,000 men, more than 
the entire strength of Lee's Army. But he received rein- 
forcements of 55,000 men which was a greater number than 
the whole of the Army of Northern Virginia. Never mind 
how many of his men Grant butchered, he was supplied with 
more to fill their places. A man lost to the Confederates 
could not be replaced. With Grant it was a simple matter 
of hammering and killing and with the resources he con- 
trolled the end was sure and certain. Was this general- 
ship? If Lee could only have maintained his numerical 
strength, comparatively small though it was. Grant would 
have met more than his match, as he did at Shiloh with 
Albert Sidney Johnston. June 5th. Dana states that Grant's 
Army was composed of 115,000 fighting men. He had the 
opportunity of knowing that. But his supposition as to 
Lee's strength was ridiculously erroneous. He must have 
judged from the efifect of Lee's Army and his utter impos- 
sibility of realizing that so few men could do so much. Lee 
at that time in his immediate command had less than 30,000 
men, all told ! 

During this compaign the suffering of the Confederates 
was terrible. "The intense heat of the June days in lowland 
Virginia, intensified by the clouds of dust raised by every 
movement and the want of drinkable water, brought suf- 
fering and weariness upon both contending armies. To 
these were added for Lee's men the pangs of hunger. A 
credible witness, in the Artillery, states that his command 
had received but two issues of rations since leaving Han- 
over junction ; one of these was three army crackers and a 
small slice of pork; two days later, a cracker was issued 



172 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

to each soldier. This was all that could be done to give 
physical strength to the grim veterans that stood behind the 
breastworks they had hurriedly thrown up, to meet Grant's 
last effort of reaching Richmond from the North side of the 
James." 

In spite of all this, the soldier boys of the Confederacy 
were bound to have their fun and it was fortunate that they 
could, as it largely sustained that magnificent morale which 
made them such immortal heroes. When Anderson crossed 
the North Anna, he left a part of Kershaw's old Brigade 
in a tete-de-pont on the North bank, to protect the crossing 
until all were safely on the South side. It was a rather 
ticklish position for the detachment and when the time came 
for retirement, which was accomplished in the face of a 
heavy force, they made a rapid dash for the river, drawing 
on them a heavy fire of shot, shell and musketry. '"The 
ascent of the long hill on the South side was made under 
the heavy fire of the Enemy. When the top was reached, a 
stuttering soldier proposed to a comrade to lay down and 
let him get behind him. Of course the proposition was de- 
clined without thanks. When we re-formed on the top of 
the hill, there was quite a number of jokes told. Among 
others, the one last stated, Tom Paysinger said, 'Nels, if 
I had been there I would have killed myself laughing! 
Whereupon the stutterer said, 'T-T-Tom P-P-Paysinger, I 
saw a heap of men down there but not one of them laughed !' 
During the battle of Spottsylvania an officer who had es- 
caped being wounded up to that time, was painfully wound- 
ed and being carried to the rear on a stretcher. He was 
heard to exclaim : *Oh ! that I had been a good man ! Oh ! 
that I had listened to my mother !' When he returned re- 
stored, many a laugh was had at these expressions. But he 
got even with one of his tormentors who was one of the 
litter bearers who had carried the officer from the field when 
wounded. Once while this young man was cleverly imitat- 



FROM THE RAPIDAN TO PETERSBURG 173 

ing the words and the tone of the wounded man, he was 
suddenly arrested by these words : 'Yes, I remember when 
a shell burst pretty close, you forgot me and dropped your 
end of the litter.' The laugh was turned." 

While the Battle of Spottsylvania was in progress, the 
famous Cavalry leader, Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, on May nth 
at Yellow Tavern, received a fatal wound and expired the 
next day. His loss was a most heavy blow to General Lee 
and to the Cause. It is not well known but is true, that after 
the death of the dashing Stuart, Gen. Robt. E. Lee of- 
fered the command of the Cavalry of the Army of Northern 
Virginia to Gen. Richard H. Anderson. General Anderson 
gave the flattering offer grave consideration, but very wise- 
ly declined the position, for while his service in the old 
Army had been exclusively in the Cavalry and therein he 
had risen to the rank of Captain, yet his character fitted him 
rather better to command infantry than Cavalry. His ca- 
reer as an infantry leader in the Confederate Army was so 
distinguished as to show his eminent fitness for such a com- 
mand, and he wisely decided not to make any change in his 
line of service. He suggested to Gen. R. E. Lee to appoint 
Gen. Wade Hampton to the position which had been of- 
fered him and the brilliant career of General Hampton justi- 
fied his recommendation. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Campaign after Second Cold Harbor and up to the 
Valley Campaign of 1864. 

General Anderson, after the second battle of Cold Har- 
bor, remained in that vicinity for some little time, resting 
his men from the severe fatigues they had endured in the 
campaign from the Rapidan down to the James River. The 
two battles at Cold Harbor were remarkable in that, in each 
the relative positions of the contending Armies were ex- 
actly reversed from those occupied by each in the other 
battle. In the second battle the Confederates were in the 
position occupied by the Federals in the first battle and vice 
versa. In both engagements the Confederates had been suc- 
cessful, so it could not have been the position which gave 
any advantage and the victory in each case could only be 
due to the superior skill and gallantry of the Confederates. 

On June i6th General Anderson, with Pickett's and 
Field's Divisions, was ordered to the South side, crossing 
the river at Drewry's Bluff, to meet General Grant's "slid- 
ing" movement to the South. The next day they occupied 
the line which had been abandoned by General Beauregard, 
when he had hastened to Petersburg to resist the Federal 
attack. On that day, Kershaw's Division joined General 
Anderson, The very next day, however, June i8th, this 
splendid Division was rushed to Petersburg, to reinforce the 
handful of gallant men who had, by the most devoted hero- 



CAMPAIGN AFTER COLD HARBOR 175 

ism and daring, succeeded against terrific odds, in holding 
the city and repulsing every assault of the Enemy. From 
the "History of Kershaw's Brigade" is extracted the fol- 
lowing, showing how Kershaw's old South Carolina Bri- 
gade and the other parts of Kershaw's Division and Ander- 
son's Corps acted in this magnificent and successful defence 
of this most important position. (General Kershaw had 
been promoted to be Major General and placed in command 
of the Division previously commanded by General Mc- 
Laws, about the time General Anderson had been promoted 
to be Lieut. General and placed in command of Longstreet's 
Corps) : "When we reached Petersburg, about sunrise, we 
found only Wise's Brigade and several regiments of old 
men and boys, hastily gotten together to defend their city, 
until the regulars came up. They had been fighting in the 
ranks, these graybeards and half-grown boys for three days 
and to their credit be it said, 'they weathered the storm' 
like their kinsmen in Wise's Brigade and showed as much 
courage and endurance as the best Virginians. In the 
streets were ladies in every walk of life, some waving ban- 
ners and handkerchiefs, some clapping their hands and giv- 
ing words of cheer, as the soldiers came by with their swing- 
ing step, their clothes looking as if they had just swam the 
river. Were the ladies refugeeing — getting out of harm's 
way ? Not a bit of it. They looked equally determined and 
defiant as their brothers and fathers in ranks — each and all 
seemed to envy the soldier his rifle.' Petersburg fully 
equalled, if not surpassed, Richmond in the loyalty and de- 
votion of her people, especially that of her glorious women." 

Hoke's Division, with Hagood's South Carolina Brigade 
being a part thereof, had reached Petersburg in advance 
of Anderson and gave untold help to Beauregard, enabling 
him to hold the city until Lee's Army came up. 

"Kershaw's Brigade relieved Wise's Brigade, who were 
utterly worn out, taking position on the extreme right, its 



176 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

right resting on the Jerusalem plank road and extending to 
the left, over the hills and across open fields. Wise had 
some hastily constructed works, with rifle pits in front. 
These had to be relieved under a heavy fire. As the other 
Brigades of the Division came up, they took position on 
the left. Before our Division lines were properly adjusted, 
Warren's whole Corps made a mad rush upon the works, 
now manned by a thin skirmish line and seemed determined 
to drive us from our entrenchments by sheer weight of 
numbers. But Kershaw displayed no inclination to yield. 
After some hours of stubborn fighting and failing to dis- 
lodge us, the Enemy withdrew, to strengthen and straighten 
their lines and bring them more in harmony with ours. 
About four o'clock in the afternoon Meade organized a 
strong column of assault. * * * The Artillery was put 
in position and a destructive fire was opened upon us by 
fifty pieces of the best field artillery. The infantry then 
commenced the storming of our works, but Field's Division 
had come up and was on the line. General Anderson and 
his whole Corps were in position to meet this furious on- 
slaught. The battle raged furiously until nightfall, but 
with no better results to the Enemy than had attended him 
for the last three days — a total repulse at every point !" 
"Anderson's Corps, Kershaw's and Field's Divisions of 
Lee's Army, with ten thousand under General Beauregard, 
making a total of twenty thousand, successfully combatted 
Grant's whole Army, estimated by the Federals themselves 
as being ninety thousand. These are some figures that 
might well be taken into consideration when deeds of 
prowess and Southern valor are being summed up." The 
gallant Captain Dickert we fear errs in speaking of those 
things he did not know of his own knowledge. The whole 
of Grant's Army hardly took part in the graphically de- 
scribed attack on Petersburg and the numbers of that Army 
were even larger than he thinks they were. But most cer- 



CAMPAIGN AFTER COLD HARBOR 177 

tainly the attacking force greatly outnumbered the brave 
men who so nobly defended the lines around Petersburg. 

Grant's move on Petersburg was judicious, in fact mas- 
terly and but for the character of the instructions he gave 
General Smith and the co-operating commanders — at least 
so says the historian Swinton — would have been entirely 
successful and given such a blow to Lee that he would have 
been compelled to evacuate Richmond and change the the- 
atre of War to Southwestern Virginia. By the Confeder- 
ates this was averted — First by the gallant defence of the 
city by the local forces and Wise's Brigade ; second by the 
opportune arrival of Hoke's Division, and third by Ander- 
son reaching the lines in front of Petersburg in time to de- 
feat the culminating and stupendous efforts of the Federals 
on the i8th of June. If Anderson had not been there on 
the 1 8th of June, Petersburg would surely have been cap- 
tured by the strong force with which the Enemy attacked, 
and Grant's program would have been carried out, in spite 
of the "character of the instructions he gave General Smith 
and the co-operating commanders." General Anderson thus 
saved Petersburg, saved Richmond and saved the Confed- 
eracy ! 

When Anderson left Beauregard's old line of works, 
south of the James, Pickett's Division was extended and 
covered by a very thin line, the entire front. On the 15th 
June, General Butler advanced from Bermuda Flundred to 
attack this line and destroy the Railroad connecting Rich- 
mond and Petersburg. But Lee was massing his Army 
at Petersburg, so a heavy column happened to be passing in 
rear of these lines just at that time, so it was moved up 
to the defence of the position and Butler was compelled to 
withdraw. War seems to be full of accidents — happy in 
this instance, but sometimes disastrous. 

While Grant was pressing his attack on Petersburg, he 
had men enough to detach Hancock, with a strong force, 



178 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

north of the James to attempt a straight move, "on to Rich- 
mond." He doubtless counted on Lee's having to leave this 
route scantily protected, to meet his pressure upon the lines 
at Petersburg. General Anderson was sent to meet and 
check this movement. He had, under his command, Ker- 
shaw's Division of his own Corps, Heth's Division and 
some other troops and with them crossed the James on 
July 27th to the North side. General Anderson disposed 
his forces to meet the Enemy. On 28th July, he took four 
Brigades of his Corps, Conner's, Lane's, Kershaw's and 
Wofford's, and attempted to dislodge the Enemy from the 
Long Bridge Rioad. Conner's Brigade became engaged, 
capturing one piece of artillery and taking some prisoners, 
but failed to gain the road. At nightfall. General Ander- 
son retired this force to the line at Fussell's Mill. Gen. W. 
H. F. Lee, with his Cavalry joined him that night. On the 
next day, in the afternoon, Kershaw's and Conner's Bri- 
gades were moved down to Darby's and occupied the junc- 
tion of the Long Bridge and Darbytown roads. Field's 
Division on the same day joined the Corps from the South 
side. While there was but little actual fighting, the dis- 
positions made by General Anderson accomplished their 
objects. On the morning of July 30th it was discovered 
that Hancock's movement had been abandoned and he had 
retired to the other side of the river. 

It is said, by Federal authorities, that Hancock was with- 
drawn because Burnside proposed to spring the explosion 
of the crater, following which he was to make an attack 
and that he demanded the presence of Hancock to assist 
him. It is not improbable that Burnside did ask for Han- 
cock's return, but it is hardly conceivable that Grant would 
have abandoned an important movement to give Burnside 
a General whom he had confidence in, when he had in his 
Army many equally capable officers and thousands of men, 
to have supported Burnside's assault. It is far more likely 



CAMPAIGN AFTER COLD HARBOR 179 

that instead of finding slightly manned lines, he found Gen- 
eral Anderson with a strong force ready to meet Hancock, 
and knew that the movement must fail if carried out, and 
so changed his plans and recalled Hancodk. Again the 
Federal "on to Richmond" had failed and failed because 
Fighting Dick Anderson stood in the way. Again within 
a very short time General Anderson had saved Richmond. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Valley Campaign. Summer of 1864. 

Early in the Summer of 1864, Federal General Hunter, 
not of savory reputation with the Confederates, had moved 
up the Valley and through Lexington and was headed for 
Lynchburg. His conduct in the Valley was exceedingly 
cruel and he loaded the people with untold miseries. He 
could compare only with General Sheridan in the cruel bur- 
dens inflicted upon the loyal — and all were loyal — Confed- 
erates whose happy homes bloomed in this garden spot of 
Virginia. But in the Federal ranks were many generous 
noble soldiers, who would not descend to the depths of in- 
famy reached by their leaders. Among such was the noble 
and gallant Col. J. L. Schoonmaker, now of Pittsburg, Penn. 
In command of two Regiments of Cavalry he led Hunter's 
march up the Valley. When he reached Lexington, he en- 
tered the buildings of the Virginia Military Institute and 
found therein simple college equipment, desks, books, un- 
finished problems on the blackboards. There was nothing 
warlike or threatening to the safety or interests of the 
United States so he saw no reason for destroying the build- 
ings. That they had been sanctified by the presence of the 
immortal "Stonewall" or that the Cadets had gallantly 
shared the fortunes of the Confederacy, to his liberal mind, 
was no reason for burning the buildings. Later in the day, 
he was visited by a deputation of citizens, who stated that 



VALLEY CAMPAIGN OF 1864 181 

Stonewall Jackson's grave was marked by several Confed- 
erate Battle Flags, as usual, but they had not been placed 
there to give offence to the enemy and they asked permis- 
sion to remove the flags. Colonel Schoonmaker said, "No," 
and threw a guard around the Cemetery to prevent any in- 
terference. At Retreat in the afternoon, when by Army 
etiquette all flags are honorably and ceremoniously lowered, 
the Colonel took the band of one of his Regiments and a 
company from each, marched up to Stonewall Jackson's 
grave and with all the honors and formalities of Army cere- 
monial lowered the flags from the grave. This touching 
tribute to the beloved Jackson was most highly appreciated 
by the citizens of the town and won for Colonel Schoon- 
maker the love and admiration of the people. But the 
Colonel's magnanimity did not please General Hunter ; when 
he reached Lexington the next day and learned of the in- 
cident, he placed the Colonel under arrest for paying this 
tribute to the Arch Rebel (?) Jackson. 

To meet Hunter's movement. General Lee sent the Sec- 
ond Corps, commanded by Gen. Jubal A. Early, to Lynch- 
burg. They met Hunter, attacked him and drove him to 
the shelter of the mountains of West Virginia. This opened 
the Valley and by direction of General Lee, Early moved 
down, crossed the Potomac, and threatened Washington, 
Reaching the Suburbs of that city, General Early found, 
much to his disappointment, that heavy reinforcements of 
Veteran troops from Grant's Army were there to meet him. 
They largely outnumbered his force. These he could hard- 
ly expect to scare, as he might have done the non-belliger- 
ent heroes who were saving the nation in the various bureaus 
of the Capital, so he turned his back on Washington and 
returned to the Shenandoah Valley, reaching there July 
17, 1864. The Enemy of course followed him, but for some 
time he held his ground in the lower part of the Valley. 

If Early had not been delayed by the battle of Monacacy, 



182 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

he probably would have reached Washington in advance 
of the two Corps sent via the Potomac from Grant's Army 
and then, what? There would not have been adequate 
forces to hold the works around Washington, and those 
who were there were not hardy veterans, and it is within 
the scope of possibilities that he would have captured the 
city. And what then? What would have been the effect 
on the war? Would it have been favorable to the South 
or would it have aroused the North to even greater ef- 
forts? All this is of course problematic, but it shows, that 
even with inferior numbers, and deficient equipment and 
without a Treasury, that the South may have won, by what 
may be designated an accident. War is full of chances ! 

The adventurous, bold, dashing campaign of Early's 
brought General Anderson on the scene. Early in August 
Lee found it necessary to send him to Culpeper Court 
House, east of the Blue Ridge, having with him, Kershaw's 
Division of his own Corps, Cutshaw's Battalion of Artil- 
lery and two brigides of Cavalry under Gen. Fitzhugh Lee. 
The object of this movement was twofold, to threaten the 
enemy's flank and rear should he move across the Blue 
Ridge into the Valley and to retain the Federals about 
Washington in its position for the protection of that City. 
The detachment of Early and Anderson, from his main 
army, reduced as that was and facing far superior num- 
bers, was a bold move on General Lee's part. It certainly 
showed the great confidence he had in his forces to pro- 
tect Petersburg and Richmond. 

General Lee further advised General Anderson : "Any en- 
terprise that can be undertaken to injure the enemy, distract 
or separate his forces, embarrass his communications on the 
Potomac or land, is desirable." The position of Anderson 
at Culpeper also protected Early's flank and placed near 
him a force for his assistance if needed, as it subsequently 
was, and also by threatening Washington did prevent troops 



VALLEY CAMPAIGN OF 1864 183 

being sent to Grant at Petersburg. Aug. 12th General An- 
derson was ordered to move to Sperryville, nearer to Early, 
and instructed "to be governed by circumstances" and "to 
keep in communication with Early." 

The importance of these movements became evident in a 
very few days, as Early called on Anderson for assistance 
and on i8th August he reached Early with his entire force 
and camped near the Opequaw River, entering the Valley 
by Front Royal. The next day he moved to Winchester. 

General Anderson ranked General Early, but when of- 
fered the command by General Early, declined to accept, 
but cordially agreed to co-operate with him. Being a true 
and broadminded man, he doubtless took this course, as 
Early had been in charge of the operations in the Valley, 
which he had conducted with brilliant success and it was 
hardly just to him to assume command over him, particu- 
larly when General Anderson knew he was only with him 
temporarily and to assist him. It was most highly com- 
mendable on the part of General Anderson, clearly demon- 
strating his unsellishness, his consideration for others and 
his noble patriotism. As ever, he was ready to do what he 
conceived to be for the best interest of the Cause, without 
any thought of his personal glory. General Lee surely knew 
his character, for he wrote General Early, August 25th : "I 
am aware that General Anderson is the ranking officer, but 
I apprehend no difficulty on that score. I first intended him 
to threaten the Enemy east of the Blue Ridge, so as to re- 
tain near Washington a portion of the Enemy's forces. He 
crossed the mountains at your suggestion and I think 
properly." 

Among General Anderson's papers has been found his 
copy of a letter to General Lee, describing some of the move- 
ments when he first joined Early in the Valley, including the 
fight at Front Royal. While not descriptive of any more 
important battle, it shows most clearly the daily events of 



184 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

an active campaign. Such articles of General Anderson's 
show that pre-eminent quality of his character, a modest 
shrinkage from any self-praise or vaunting of his works 
or accomplished deeds. He tells his story with directness, 
brevity and in good strong English, without verbal embel- 
lishment. All of the General's letters and reports are in 
strong contrast to many on file, often of inconsequential 
actors, who state everything they do, and much that they 
do not do, with all the personality of a big I. 

From Gen. R. H. Anderson to Gen. Robt. E. Lee, dated 
Charlestown, Va., Aug. 22^, 1864: "On the isth Inst., learn- 
ing that the Enemy was strengthening his Cavalry force at 
Cedarville and apprehending that he wished to bar the pas- 
sage of the river at Front Royal, I directed a Brigade of 
Cavalry, one of Infantry, with a battery of Artillery to 
cross and take possession of Guard Hill, the high ground 
this side of the North Branch of the Shenandoah. Wick- 
ham's Brigade of Cavalry crossed rapidly and took the Hill. 
Wofford's Brigade of Infantry, having crossed lower down 
(at the junction of the rivers) came upon the heights just 
as re-inforcements of the Enemy were arriving from Cedar- 
ville and seeing a fair opportunity to attack, he did so by 
crossing Crooked Run, about half a mile below the bridge 
and advancing into the open high ground lying along the 
East side of that stream. Wickham immediately advanced 
two regiments of his Cavalry to assist the attack of Wof- 
ford, but the enemy's force being much greater than ours 
and the ground very favorable for cavalry, our troops were 
repulsed and driven back to Guard Hill, the possession of 
which we maintained. 

"On the following morning the Enemy retired from 
Early's front and mine in the direction of Winchester burn- 
ing barns and wheat and hay along his track. We followed 
immediately and our Cavalry endeavored to overtake the 
Enemy or press him so closely as to put a stop to the burn- 



VALLEY CAMPAIGN OF 1864 185 

ing. They were unsuccessful and the Enemy continued his 
retreat and the destruction of property as far as Berry- 
ville. Whilst our Cavalry were pursuing that of the Enemy, 
Kershaw's Division followed the direct road to Winchester 
to be in position to reinforce Early if necessary. It was ex- 
pected that the Enemy would make a stand at Winchester, 
but his Infantry continued retiring, Early following them 
as far as Bunker Hill. His Cavalry halted at Berryville, at 
which place it was joined on the 19th Inst, by Wilson's 
Division. 

"On the 2 1st, having previously received notice from 
General Early that he intended to advance, Kershaw's Di- 
vision and Cutshaw's Artillery were moved towards Charles- 
town by the road through Summit Point. Fitz Lee's Cavalry 
was directed against that of the Enemy at Berryville. We 
encountered their Cavalry pickets soon after crossing the 
Opequon and continued skirmishing with them and drove 
them back as far as Summit Point. Fitz Lee found some 
difficulty in driving them from Berryville, but succeeded in 
doing so towards evening. Early had advanced from Bunker 
Hill to the vicinity of Charlestown, skirmishing nearly all 
the way. The Enemy still refused to fight and his whole 
force retired to Harper's Ferry. I think he has about 25,- 
000 men, including Wilson's Cavalry. This is the lowest 
estimate. The citizens all agree that it is much the largest 
force that has appeared in the Valley. I enclose a memo- 
randum which was taken from a prisoner. 

"We lost about 300 (mostly prisoners) in the fight at 
Front Royal and fifteen or twenty killed and wounded in 
the skirmishing between Opequon and this place. Informa- 
tion has just been received from General Early that the 
Enemy's cavalry, including Averill's, are at Shepherdstown 
and Williamsport. Fitz Lee and Loniax will move in the 
direction of these places. Consulting solely the best means 
of success and believing it not to have been your intention 



186 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

that I should supercede Early, I have not assumed com- 
mand, but will continue to act in concert with him/' 

Among General Anderson's Papers, was also found the 
following letter from General Lee. It shows the cordial 
and confidential relationship of the Great Lee and one of 
his chief Lieutenants. It is interesting to note how gently 
General Lee advises General Anderson as to his movements 
in general and particularly as to those at Front Royal : 

"Hdqrs. Army N. Va. 

"29th. Aug., 1864. 
"Lieut. Gen. R. H. Anderson, 

Comdg. 
General. 

"Your letter of the 23d is received, and I am gratified 
to learn of your operations and their general result. 

"I fear that at Front Royal, the Enemy was too strong 
for the force you sent against him. I think in all cases it 
is the best to employ all our available force without refer- 
ence to the weakness of the Enemy. If we have the ad- 
vantage of numbers, it renders success more certain and 
the loss less. I hope you will always endeavor to bring 
your whole force to bear upon the Enemy when practicable, 
as in that way alone can superiority of numbers be made 
valuable. 

"You are correct in your view of the relation I wished 
you to bear towards General Early. I only desired you to 
co-operate with him, not to assume command. I wish you 
to do so as long as you can be of service. If you cannot 
accomplish anything where you are and the presence of your 
command is not necessary in the Valley, you might co-oper- 
ate more effectually by moving into Loudon or Fauquier and 
sending a part or the whole of Fitz Lee's Cavalry into Mary- 
land, east of the Blue Ridge. I have written to General 
Early on this subject and desire you to be governed in your 



VALLEY CAMPAIGN OF 1864 187 

operations by the situation of affairs and the best inter- 
ests of the service. 

"Should you find that nothing can be accomplished, and 
your presence be unnecessary for the safety of General 
Early, you can take your position in Culpepper convenient 
to the Rail Road, so that you may move readily to this 
place if necessary. 

"I desire you to consult with General Early as to your 
joint movements and render him all assistance in your 
power. 

Very Respy 

Your obt. Servt. 

"R. E. LEE." 

General Anderson thought best to remain in the Valley 
and with his command took part in the various manoeuvres 
in the lower Valley, among them the fight at Berryville, Sept. 
3d, when they successfully met and defeated the Enemy. 
They also participated in the demonstration against Har- 
per's Ferry, supporting General Early's command. Referr- 
ing to his support and co-operation, General Early said : 
"General Anderson then consented to take my position in 
front of Charlestown and amuse the Enemy with Kershaw's 
Division of Infantry" and two Brigades of Cavalry, while 
he. Early, made a movement against Shepherdstown, North 
of Harper's Ferry. 

General Lee had been considering the withdrawal of Gen- 
eral Anderson from the Valley, as soon as his command 
could be spared, leaving it optional with Generals Anderson 
and Early to decide when it could be done. Sept. 14th it 
was deemed prudent and Anderson moved Kershaw's Di- 
vision to Culpeper Court House. Sept. 17th General Lee 
wrote General Anderson: "I have been desirous for some 
time of recalling you to me, but my unwillingness to dimin- 
ish the force in the Valley has prevented — I wish you would. 



188 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

with your staff, return here" (Petersburg) "and take com- 
mand of the other Division of your Corps and direct Ker- 
shaw to report, with his Division to General Early, for the 
present." 

General Anderson had hardly received the above letter 
when a wire came, dated Sept. 20th, from General Lee: 
"Remain and report condition of affairs." On the 23d Gen- 
eral Lee wired General Anderson : "Early has again met 
with a reverse, falling back to New Market. Send Kershaw's 
Division with a Battalion of Artillery through Swift Run 
Gap to report to him at once. You had best report here in 
person with your staff according to previous orders." Gen- 
eral Anderson sent Kershaw's Division to Early and re- 
ported himself, Sept. 27, 1864, to General Lee at Petersburg. 

The official records of Early's Lynchburg and Valley cam- 
paigns are, most unfortunately, very meagre. There is no 
report of the latter from General Early and very few from 
his subordinate commanders, in the War of the Rebellion 
Records. Fortunately, Maj. Jed Hotchkiss, of the Engineer 
Department and a member of General Early's Staff, was 
methodical and had preserved his Diary, which has been 
published and from that and other sources General Early, 
after the War, was enabled to make a most valued sketch 
of the Campaigns. This was also published in 1866 and 
styled, most characteristically, "Memoir of the last year of 
the War for Independence in the Confederate States of 
America." It is particularly valuable as it gives, what Gen- 
eral Early alone could give, the reasons for the various 
movements. There are no reports however to show how 
well General Anderson did his part. The failure of the 
Enemy to make any serious advance east of the Blue Ridge 
may be fairly attributed to General Anderson's disposi- 
tions when at Culpeper Court House. He was ready and 
did respond promptly to Early's call for help. He was noble 
in his willingness to co-operate with a junior in rank, when 



VALLEY CAMPAIGN OF 1864 189 

he could have, with miHtary propriety, superseded him. 
That Early was successful with all the movements planned 
and executed while General Anderson was with him, surely 
warrants the inference that his co-operation was as valued, 
as it was sincere. Though not taking part in any great bat- 
tles during the summer of 1864, yet General Anderson's 
services to his country were consonant with his previous 
skillful and valorous record. 

General Early in his Valley Campaign had a most check- 
ered career. During it all, he showed great bravery and 
what was more essential in a General, really masterly skill. 
His initial operations which drove Hunter out of the Val- 
ley, after a triumphal march through its entire length, were 
brilliant and creditable. His sweeping down, crossing the 
Potomac and marching to within sight of the dome of the 
Federal Capitol, was gallant and well executed and aided 
General Lee most essentially. His subsequent manoeuvres 
in the lower Valley were effective of their objects, well con- 
ceived and well executed. But one blot to it all, the 
disastrous ending of the Battle of Cedar Creek. For this 
he could not be censured, for all of his movements were 
skillful and effective and victory rested upon his banners, 
when a thoroughly unaccountable panic seized his Army and 
they fled ingloriously, in absolute rout from a battlefield 
which their intrepid valor had gloriously won. The dis- 
aster was caused by the men being demoralized and scat- 
tered when plundering the Enemy's camp. 

A brave young officer writing of this retreat says with 
candor and some humor: "The stampede of Early was un- 
called for, unnecessary and disgraceful and I willingly as- 
sume my share of the blame and shame. My only title to 

fame rests upon my leading the Regiment in the 

grandest Stampede of the Southern Army, the greatest 
since Waterloo, and I hope to be forgiven for saying with 
pardonable pride that I led them remarkably well to the 



190 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

rear for a boy of eighteen. A General could not have done 
better." This from a soldier with a magnificent record for 
gallantry. His feelings then must have been those of a fel- 
low soldier to whom he refers in another place in his most 
admirable "History of Kershaw's Brigade:" "The way was 
full of obstacles and one of the party nearly overcome, sat 
with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, when 
a comrade accosted him : 

" 'Hello John, w^hat is the matter with you?' 

" 'Oh, I was just thinking,' replied John. 

" 'Well, what in the world were you thinking so deeply 
about that you were lost to every environment?' 

" 'Well, John, to tell you the truth, I was thinking that 
I wished I was a woman !' 

" 'Wish you was a woman ! Great Scott, John, are you 
gone crazy? A brave soldier like you wishing to be a 
woman ?' 

" 'Now, John, I'll tell you the truth ; if I were a woman 
I could just cry as much as I pleased and no one would 
think that I was a fool.' 

"I felt very much like John. I wished I was a woman 
so that I could cry as much as I pleased." 

In the same History, the author, Capt. D. Augustus Dick- 
ert, further says most touchingly : "We passed the little 
towns and villages of the Valley, the ladies coming to their 
doors and looking on the retreat in silence. Were we 
ashamed? Don't ask the pointed question, gentle reader, 
for the soldiers felt as if they could turn and brain every 
Federal soldier in the Army, with the butt of his rifle. But 
not a reproach, not a murmur from these self-sacrificing 
women of the Valley. They were silent but sad. Their 
sons and husbands had all given themselves to the service 
of their country, while rapine and the torch had already 
done its work too thoroughly to fear it now or dread its 



VALLEY CAMPAIGN OF 1864 191 

consequences. But the presence alone of a foreign foe on 
their threshhold was the bitterness of gall." 

The men of the South ever have been and ever will be, 
as unanimous in paying tribute to the glorious Southern 
Womanhood of the War, as they were united and valorous 
in their defence. What the chivalrous Captain Dickert says 
of the Women of the Valley, applies equally to all the 
Women of the Confederacy. Gov. W. A. Cameron, of Vir- 
ginia, most beautifully paints her heroic devotion and un- 
failing patriotism thus: "She gave the vital spark to the 
spirit of endurance. Throughout the years of blood and 
agony her patriotism burned clear upon the altars of sacri- 
fice. She was an inspiration to the brave, a spur to the lag- 
gard, a whip of scorn to the faint-hearted and the unfaith- 
ful. She took sorrow to her bosom as a familiar friend, 
masking the ache within her heart with a smile more pitiful 
than tears. She endured privation without a murmur and 
confronted danger without a tremor. She sweetened vic- 
tory with her smiles and consecrated defeat with her tears. 
To the sick and stricken she was an angel of mercy and of 
grace. She was the epitome of all human excellencies — help- 
meet, exemplar, inspirer, comforter." 

Excuse, dear reader, this divergence to pay a tribute to 
the great worth of the Women of the Confederacy. Gen- 
eral Anderson certainly knew them and his spirit would say 
that a tribute to these Women could never be inopportune. 
The fact of the matter is, that if all the Generals, all the 
Colonels, all the Captains, all the privates, every man of the 
rank and file of the Confederate Army, were for all time to 
chant paeans to these immortal Women, they could not 
sound one-thousandth part of the praise and honor they so 
richly deserve. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
Siege of Petersburg, 

General Anderson returned from the Valley, Sept. 27, 
1864, and on the next day, General Lee directed him to 
move to the North side of the James River and take com- 
mand of the troops and of the line of defence about Chapin's 
Bluff, New Market, etc., and to push forward the construc- 
tion of the line of works. He was directed to establish head- 
quarters at the most convenient point to the lines and re- 
port location thereof to Army Headquarters. Division Com- 
manders were to report to General Anderson as to matters 
of routine, but being nearer the General Commanding were 
to report to him on matters appertaining to military opera- 
tions. This position General Anderson and the First Corps 
held and successfully carried out the duties entrusted to him 
and to them. 

The latter part of October, General Longstreet returned 
and resumed command of the Corps, publishing the follow- 
ing order, showing his confidence in General Anderson's 
management of his Corps, during his necessary absence : 

Headquarters ist Army Corps, A. N. V. 
Oct. 19, 1864. 
Genl. Orders No. 13. 

The undersigned, with deep and grateful emotion re- 
sumes command of his Army Corps. Although separated 



SIEGE OF PETERSBURG 193 

from it since the first action of the past eventful campaign, 
the History of your share in that campaign is not unknown 
to him. He has marked with pride and pleasure the success 
which has attended your heroic efforts under the accom- 
plished Lieut. Gen. R. H. Anderson, who has so worthily 
led you. Soldiers, let us not go backwards! Let ist Corps 
always be true to itself ! We have in the past a brilliant and 
unsurpassed record ; let our future eclipse it in our eager- 
ness for glory, our love of country, and our determination 
to beat the Enemy. 

(Signed) J. LONGSTREET, 

Lt. General. 

General Anderson was now assigned to the command of 
the Corps previously commanded by General Beauregard, 
composed of Hoke's and B. R. Johnson's Divisions, to which 
Pickett's Division was afterwards added. Until near the 
end of the defence of Petersburg, he did not command 
parts of the lines actively assaulted. He had not command 
of that part of the lines affected by the explosion at the 
Crater and the subsequent Federal attack, which proved, 
for them, so miserable a fiasco; so took no part in that 
memorable engagement. He was at Culpeper Court House 
when Grant made his first effort to capture the Weldon 
Railroad, so was not in that. 

After the failure of his positively aggressive movements, 
Grant "rested his men" by making them use the intrenching 
tool rather than the bayonet. The siege on both sides pro- 
gressed slowly, with some few affairs of minor importance, 
until the Spring of 1865. Grant, however, was steadily cir- 
cling his lines around Lee's right flank, which stretched out 
the Confederate lines for forty miles and left Lee with but 
one railroad for his supplies. On that line he had 54,000 
of the grandest fighters the World had ever seen and con- 
fronting him was Grant with 107,000 valiant men. 



194 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

During the winter of 1864-5 the Confederates, badly 
equipped, wanting the absolute necessaries of life, suffered 
untold miseries. Dr. H. A. White, in his Life of General 
Lee, says: "Winter poured down its snows and its sleet 
upon Lee's shelterless men in the trenches. Some of them 
burrowed into the earth. Most of them shivered over the 
feeble fires kept burning along the lines. Scanty and thin 
were the garments of these heroes. Most of them were clad 
in mere rags. Gaunt famine oppressed them every hour. 
With dauntless hearts these gaunt-faced men endured the 
almost ceaseless fire of Grant's mortar batteries. The frozen 
fingers of Lee's Army of Sharpshooters clutched the musket 
barrel with an aim so steady that Grant's men scarcely ever 
lifted their heads from their bomb proofs." 

General Lee's Report to the Secretary of War, Wednes- 
day, February 6, 1865, shows officially the desperate and de- 
plorable condition of the Army : 

"All disposable force of the right wing of the Army has 
been operating against the Enemy beyond Hatcher's Run 
since Sunday. Yesterday, the most inclement day of the 
winter, they had to be retained in line of battle, having been 
in the same condition the two previous days and nights. I 
regret to be obliged to state that under these circumstances, 
heightened by assaults and fire of the enemy, some of the 
men have been without meat for three days and all were 
sufifering from reduced rations and scant clothing, exposed 
to battle, cold, hail and sleet. I have directed Colonel Cole, 
Chief Commissary, who reports that he has not a pound 
of meat at his disposal, to visit Richmond and see if nothing 
can be done. If some change is not made and the Com- 
missary department reorganized, I apprehend dire results. 
Fitz Lee's and Lomax's divisions are scattered because sup- 
plies cannot be transported where their services are re- 
quired. I had to bring W. H. F. Lee's division forty miles 
Sunday night to get him in position. Taking these facts in 



SEIGE OF PETERSBURG 195 

connection with the paucity of our numbers, you must not 
be surprised if calamity befalls us." 

Feby. 6, 1865, two months before the final collapse of 
the Confederacy, Gen. Robt. E. Lee was appointed Com- 
mander-in-Chief of all the Armies of the Confederacy. His 
high sense of patriotic duty and his devotion to the Cause, 
alone, induced him to assume this additional load. He met 
it like the noble man he was. In his first General order, 
after assuming the command he said, in part : "Deeply im- 
pressed with the difficulties and responsibilities of the situa- 
tion and humbly invoking the guidance of Almighty God, I 
rely for success upon the courage and fortitude of the Army, 
sustained by the patriotism and firmness of the people ; con- 
fident that their united efforts, under the blessing of Heaven, 
will secure peace and independence." In his order of Feby. 
14th he said of his soldiers, "The choice between War and 
abject submission is before them. To such a proposal, brave 
men, with arms in their hands can have but one answer. 
They cannot barter manhood for peace, nor the right of 
self-government for life or property. But justice to them 
requires a sterner admonition to those who have abandoned 
their comrades in the hour of peril." 

The appointment was to General Lee a high and well 
merited honor. But conferred too late. If it had been 
given a year, or better still, two years earlier, the results of 
the struggle may have been altered. But when made, it 
was an empty honor, because utterly without opportuni- 
ties. Our cause was really in its death throes. Defeat af- 
ter defeat had overwhelmed the Confederacy. Lee had been 
forcd back from Pennsylvania to Richmond ; Hood's Army 
had been practically destroyed at Nashville. Sherman had 
made his destructive march through Georgia and was about 
starting on his illuminating raid through the Carolinas. 
Every port had been closed. The poor depleted Confeder- 
acy had nothing — neither sons to defend her nor munitions 



196 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

to supply nor food to nourish them ; save a mere handful 
of devoted patriots, who in spite of every trial and trouble 
still upheld her battle flags. Even the great Lee could not 
possibly have accomplished anything. But the great love of 
his people for their peerless leader and their knowledge of 
conditions, saved him from the slightest censure for fail- 
ure. Placing him at the head of all the Armies was the 
last forlorn hope of the Government at Richmond, expect- 
ing his glorious record in the past to inspire the people. But 
the Government leaders should have known that our people 
were so completely exhausted that there was nothing for in- 
spiration to arouse. 

This assignment made Lee the Dictator of the Confed- 
eracy. But his mental and moral composition had been 
wrongly estimated. In his noble character there was no 
material to make a Dictator. Thank God for that! This 
last, hopeless, expiring effort was of no avail, nor could it 
possibly have been. Even the great and beloved Robt. E. 
Lee could not instill life into the wasted corpse of our pa- 
triotic hopes. 

Among the other expiring efforts of the Coonfederacy to 
support itself, it was proposed to put the Slaves in the 
Army, giving them their freedom at the conclusion of the 
War. On this policy the authorities were moving with 
great caution fearing to arouse the opposition of the soldiers 
of the Army. It was very doubtful what the effect would 
have been on the men in the ranks. They had fought gal- 
lantly for high and noble principles and were proud of 
having done so. To put on an equality with them an in- 
ferior race, whom these men had always looked down upon, 
was a very doubtful expedient. The leading Generals 
were written to, to learn how the men under them would 
look upon the plan. General Anderson, under date Feby. 
20, 1865, answered : "The troops under my command ac- 
quiesce in the proposed measure of enlisting such slaves as 



SEIGE OF PETERSBURG 197 

may volunteer to bear arms, in consideration of receiving 
their freedom at the close of the War. They are prepared 
for this or any other step which Congress and the President 
may deem necessary or expedient." They, the fighting boys 
of a fighting Army, under fighting Dick Anderson and fight- 
ing Bob Lee, were so loyal, so trustful, had such unbounded 
confidence in the ruling powers, that they — to continue their 
glorious effort for the independence of the Confederacy, 
by still fighting, were willing to accept, as the best for them 
and their cause, any measure which the Confederate Gov- 
ernment thought best to adopt, to save their cause and win 
their freedom! These valiant men were the Soldiers of a 
Republic and they had placed in authority over them the 
Government at Richmond. Their faith in the wisdom and 
reliance upon the integrity of the officials of this Govern- 
ment was so great, that without question or hesitation they 
gladly, patriotically accepted any measure suggested and 
would attempt any task set them. It was this spirit which 
made the Confederate Army strong enough to hold at bay 
for four dismal and dispiriting years, three times their 
number of brave, determined men, with resources as un- 
limited as their valor was glorious, and with the sympathy 
of the World. Where, in the history of the World, can its 
parallel be found? 

This grave situation was not without some humorous 
episodes. Two of General Anderson's Couriers, his first 
cousin, W. W. Anderson, and his friend, John Burgess, 
conceived the plan of raising a company of negroes, from the 
plantations of their people around Statesburg, S. C. The 
measure had not been actually decided on by the Govern- 
ment, but these two young men thought it wise to take time 
by the forelock. So they prepared a formal petition to be 
allowed to raise the Company. To do this they would have 
to return home and how much the desire for a furlough 
stimulated their patriotic wish to serve their country, is not 



198 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

shown by any available records. One might risk an opin- 
ion. The petition had to be forwarded through General 
Anderson, so with a most commendable consideration for 
the General's convenience, having access to his tent, they 
placed it on top of the pile of papers awaiting the General's 
attention. The petition named W. W. Anderson as Cap- 
tain and John Burgess as First Lieutenant. Quietly waiting 
a few days and hearing nothing from the petition, one of 
them slipped into the General's tent to investigate, and alas ! 
found the petition at the bottom of the pile of papers. To 
further kindly assist the General's memory and perhaps to 
advance their own interests, it was placed again on top. Day 
after day this ruse was kept up without a word from the 
General, either of approval or disapproval. He did finally 
forward it and it came back approved. But the General, 
when he forwarded the paper approved, recommended John 
Burgess for Captain and his first cousin, W. W. Ander- 
son, for First Lieutenant — thus reversing the order of the 
petition, because he did not wish to appear even to be guilty 
of nepotism. But as the policy of enlisting the negroes was 
never adopted, the gallant and patriotic young soldiers lost 
their chances of raising the company. 

When Petersburg was first assailed by the Federal forces, 
General Anderson and his Corps had rushed to its rescue, 
in support of the handful of troops with which General 
Beauregard was holding the city and by such timely arrival, 
backed by the devotion and bravery of his men, really saved 
the city. So all through the defence, after his return from 
helping Early in the Valley, he was constantly and success- 
fully holding his part of the lines. There were, however, 
no serious engagements in which his Corps, as a unit, acted. 
He contributed his full share to the prolonged and won- 
derful defence of that historic city, made by the Army of 
Northern Virginia. 



CHAPTER XX. 
Last Days of Lee's Army. 

Among the Army papers of General Anderson, which 
have been preserved, there was found, being in his own 
handwriting, the following unofficial Report. It was pre- 
pared in response to the following request from Gen. Robt. 
E. Lee, dated March 24, 1866: "I hope you will be able to 
send me a report of the subsequent operations of the troops 
you commanded from November, 1864, to April, 1865, and 
from that period to the Surrender of the Army. If you can 
give me a correct statement of the number of your effectives 
or indeed of the effectives of any Corps, in any battles ; or 
in the absence of that, your estimate, to the best of your 
knowledge, it will be a great help to me." 

This request makes it clear that General Lee was gather- 
ing data for history, and that at one time he had intended 
to write a history of the Army he so gloriously commanded. 
What a loss to true history that his intention was never 
consumated. From his knowledge, fairness and great per- 
sonal honesty it would have been as near the truth as it 
is possible for man to write. 

"Account of Operations of Lieutenant General 

R. H, Anderson and his Command, From October 

19, 1864 to April 8, 1865, 

"Upon General Longstreet resuming the command of his 
Corps, I was assigned to the command of a corps composed 



200 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

of B. R. Johnson's and Hoke's Divisions. Hoke's Division 
was detached in Nortli Carolina and never joined me. John- 
son's Division and a small body of reserves under Colonel 

Archer constituted my command during the winter of 1864 
and 1865. Johnson's Division numbered about five thou- 
sand and Archer's battalion about two hundred and fifty 
effective men when I took command of them. These troops 
were posted in the trenches around Petersburg from Lieu- 
tenants Run to the Appomattox. 

'Tn the early part of the winter efforts were made to 
strengthen the fortifications and construct good bomb proof 
shelters for the troops all along the line, but the scarcity of 
timber, the broken down condition of the teams and over- 
tasked capacity of the Railroad all conspired to interpose 
such insuperable difficulties that this design was greatly 
nodified and finally altogether abandoned, our means of 
transportation barely sufficing, after cold weather set in, to 
keep up a scant supply of fuel and forage. The troops suf- 
fered greatly throughout the unusually severe and protract- 
ed winter from want of fuel, clothing, and provisions, and 
were subjected to an incessant fire from the enemy. The 
daily casualties were seldom less than five and frequently 
amounted to ten or fifteen. Under all the harassing cir- 
cumstances the troops generally presei*ved a spirit of great 
fortitude and cheerfulness, but there were many who yielded 
to the inducements to desert, which were frequently and 
temptingly disseminated amongst them by the enemy. And 
thus with the daily casualties and desertions my command 
never increased much beyond its strength when I first 
joined it. 

By the return of the extra duty men and the arrival of 
some conscripts the Division at one time approximated six 
thousand men, but did not long retain that strength, whilst 
Archer's battalion gradually dwindled away to a mere squad. 



LAST DAYS OF LEE'S ARMY 201 

"There were but few incidents worthy of note during the 
winter. Toward the end of October a body of the enemy, 
taking advantage of a dark rainy night and replying to our 
sentinels that they were relieved pickets returning, got into 
a part of the works, but were driven out as soon as their 
real character was discovered. The two lines of works 
were very near at the point at which they entered (a few 
hundred yards to the left of the 'Crater'), and after this 
occurrence it was attempted at night to drive the enemy 
out of his rifle pits and possess ourselves of them. Our 
troops got possession of the pits and held them until day- 
light, but were then forced to relinquish them and retire 
to their own works. Deficiency of intrenching tools was the 
cause of their being compelled to give up the pits. 

"A few days after this occurrence the Division and the 
whole country sustained a heavy loss in the death of Brig. 
Gen'l. Gracie. This most indefatigable and brave officer, 
whilst superintending some work on his line, incautiously 
exposed himself and was killed. Several others who com- 
posed a group around him were killed or wounded by the 
same shell. 

"Johnson's Division went into the trenches on the 15th 
of June, 1864, and had been subjected to all the annoying 
and depressing circumstances of close siege for nearly nine 
consecutive months when the Commanding General deemed 
it expedient to relieve them for the purposes of instruction, 
exercise and the re-establishment of their health and 
strength. Accordingly in the early part of March the Di- 
vision was withdrawn from the trenches and posted on the 
extreme right of the lines near Burgess's Mill. The com- 
mand of all that portion of the lines being at the same time 
conferred upon myself. The strength of the Division was 
at this time, if my memory serves me correctly, six thou- 
sand effective men. Diligent use was made of the short 



202 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

space of time intervening between the transfer of the troops 
and the commencement of active operations to prepare them 
for the campaign. It had been hoped and expected that the 
change would have had some effect in reducing desertion, 
but it had not. Desertion was not checked and this caused 
a daily drain from our strength. 

"The depressed and destitute condition of the soldiers' 
families was one of the prime causes of desertion, but the 
chief and prevailing cause was a conviction amongst them 
that our cause was hopeless and that further sacrifices were 
useless. 

"It was within the capabilities of the meanest soldier and 
most unreflecting to calculate the chances of a further prose- 
cution of the war and to perceive how immensely the odds 
were against us. Our army (from what causes it is useless 
to inquire), had received no accession of strength and was 
in all points weaker than vv'hen it had marched the year 
before to the battle of the Wilderness. That of the enemy 
was much more powerful than it had been and his number, 
his equipage, his transportation and his munitions were os- 
tensibly exhibited to our half starved, poorly equipped and 
depleted ranks, and disheartened and discouraged, they en- 
tered upon the campaign of 1865 with but little of the spirit 
of former days. 

"On the 25th of March two brigades of Johnson's Di- 
vision (Ransom's and Wallace's), under command of Gen- 
eral Ransom, were detached to form a part of the force 
with which it was designed to make an attack upon Hare's 
Hill. They participated in the attack and were at first 
successful, but were finally driven badk with heavy loss in 
killed, wounded and prisoners. I think the loss was above 
twelve hundred in the two brigades." 

At a conference between President Davis and General 
Lee, early in March, 1865, it was decided that General Lee 
should march his army to Danville and there uniting with 



LAST DAYS OF LEE'S ARMY 203 

General Johnston's Army, give battle in North Carolina to 
Sherman, before Grant could reach him, and then turn on 
Grant. This meant a retirement from Petersburg. General 
Lee intended to move by the Cox Road, which however ran 
so near the Federal left as to have probably defeated the 
movement. To force the Enemy to withdraw from this 
threatening position, General Lee determined on an attack 
on Grant's center. Fort Steadman, on Hare's Hill, was 
selected as the point of attack, and Gen. Jno. B. Gordon, 
then commanding the Second Corps, was entrusted with the 
execution of the assault. Ransom's and Wallace's Brigades 
of Anderson's Corps were sent to assist and took a gallant 
part in the actual assault. Fort Steadman was surprised 
and captured, together with Batteries Nine Run and Eleven 
on its flanks. The supporting columns, however, did not 
support, so Gordon's men, who had made the captures, 
found themselves not only subject to a terrible Artillery 
fire, but an infantry attack from the Ninth Federal Corps. 
This forced the Confederates back with heavy loss. Ran- 
som's and Wallace's Brigades, lost, as said by General An- 
derson, about 1,200 men, probably one-half of the number 
they carried into the battle. 

The failure of this assault required some adjustment of 
the lines and changes of position of the Divisions and 
Corps. General Anderson's Corps was sent to the right of 
the line, and he placed in command of that part of the 
line. Hoke's Division being on detached service in North 
Carolina, it left only Gen. B. R. Johnston's Division as the 
infantry of his command. "Immediately after, the enemy 
felt our entire line by a strong line of skirmishes and got 
possession for a while of a part of the line occupied by 
Moody's (formerly Grade's) Brigade. The line was soon 
recovered, but not without considerable loss. 

"Several days passed in this way — the enemy frequently 



204 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

feeling our lines, evidently under the impression that we 
were about to retire from them. 

"On the 29th of March the enemy moved a strong force 
across Hatcher's Run and drove in our pickets, possessing 
himself of the Quaker Road and Plank Road. I attacked 
him at once with Wise's and Wallace's Brigades, but could 
not drive him back, and recalled the troops to the trenches. 

"On the 30th General Pickett joined me with his Di- 
vision, but a few hours afterwards he was detached with 
three of the brigades of his Division and two of Johnson's 
Division (Ransom's and Wallace's), to unite with and sup- 
port Fitz Lee's Cavalry at Five Forks. 

"On the 31st another attempt was made to force the enemy 
back — but failed to accomplish the aim." 

General Anderson thus very briefly states, what was a 
very brilliant affair, reflecting the greater credit upon the 
Confederate forces, under General Anderson, engaged and 
also upon that part of the Fifth (Warren's) Federal Corps, 
commanded by Gen. J. L. Chamberlain, whose splendid 
work, ultimately saved the day for the Federals. Wise's, 
Grade's and Hunton's Brigades and McGowan's South 
Carolina Brigade, were ordered to move out of their 
entrenchments, get across the flank of Warren's Corps, 
and as General Chamberlain graphically expresses it, 
"smash it in." These four Brigades were thrown against 
an entire Federal Army Corps and succeeded in driving two 
Divisions thereof from the field in utter rout and were 
only checked by the determined bravery of the remaining 
parts of the Corps, under General Chamberlain. Not over 
4,000 Confederates, routing two Divisions of about 9,000 
men and part of the remaining Division of 6,500 men ! 
The Confederates found Warren's Corps preparing for an 
attack on them. The average Confederate General and 
Private was very much like Judge John C. West, of 
Texas, who, in 1863, traveled thousands of miles, from 



LAST DAYS OF LEE'S ARMY 205 

Texas to Virginia, to join the Fourth Texas Regiment in 
Virginia — "A Texan in search of a fight." So these gal- 
lant officers and men of Anderson's were like that Texan, 
"In search of a fight," and without awaiting the Enemy's 
attack, they charged the Yanks. Four small Brigades, 
pitching into a whole Federal Army Corps ! 

From General Chamberlain's book, "The Passing of the 
Armies," we extract the facts but condense the language : 
Ayres' Federal Division was advancing, without skirmish- 
ers, but in a wedge-like formation, guarding both flanks. 
The Confederate assault was sudden and utterly unex- 
pected and the blow fell without warning. McGowan's gal- 
lant South Carolinians struck the Enemy square on their 
left flank. General Hunton, whose Brigade was part of 
the Confederate assaulting force, says : "That they were 
not expecting to strike the Enemy so soon and that the 
attack was not made by the usual order, but that on dis- 
covering the Enemy so close, a gallant Lieutenant of his 
Brigade sprang in front of the line, waving his sword and 
shouting : 'Follow me boys,' whereupon his and all the men 
of the three brigades on his right dashed forward to the 
charge, overwhelming the Enemy and routing them in 
panic." The routed Federals rushed through their second 
line, Crawford's Division, carrying the men in like panic, 
pressing them until they reached their lines on the Boydtown 
Road, where they were reformed behind that part of the 
Third line, Griffin's Division, under General Chamberlain, 
when the whole Corps was rallied and the Confederate pur- 
suit checked. History shows — of course it was not known 
then — that Generals Warren and Griffin called upon Gen, 
J. L. Chamberlain to save the honor of the Fifth Corps. 
Adding to his Brigade, such troops as he could gather. Gen- 
eral Chamberlain advanced to the attack and with masterly 
skill and the greatest gallantry, drove the Confederates back 
to their entrenchments, following them, occupied the White 



206 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Oak Road, to the West of the general Confederate Hne. 

A most interesting anecdote relating to General Ander- 
son, at the time of the White Oak Road Battle, referred to 
above, shows one of the many noble qualities which ever 
animated him, has been kindly contributed by Maj. J. F. 
J. Caldwell, of Newberry, S. C. It is so well told that it is 
given verbatim : 

*'It is somewhat embarrassing to me to write of the in- 
cident which I am about to relate, because I am aware that 
I malke myself liable to the charge of vaingloriousness by 
those who do not know me ; but I think it my duty to in- 
cur that imputation rather than fail to testify to the mag- 
nanimity and kindness of a great soldier and excellent 
man. 

"It occurred in the afternoon of the thirty-first day of 
March, 1865, when, after several hours of vigorous bat- 
tle, General McGowan, on whose staff I served, sent me 
to General Anderson. Our right flank was hard pressed, 
and threatened with envelopment, by Warren's third di- 
vision, sent in to engage our two brigades which had routed 
his other two divisions. General Lee had sent Hunton's 
and Wise's brigades to our assistance ; but they took posi- 
tions between us and the breastworks, and General Mc- 
Gowan's Brigade was 'out in the air.' General McGowan 
requested me to request General Anderson to send a bat- 
tery of artillery to protect our exposed flank and help us 
in resisting the attack in our front. I rode by the shortest 
route — through open ground — and of course was exposed 
to the fire of the enemy along the line of fight. I found 
General Anderson on horseback, in front of the works, and 
attended by some of his staff. When I reached them I re- 
quested Captain (or Major) Langdon C. Haskell, of that 
staff', to introduce me to the General. My recollection is, 
that General Anderson did not wait for the completion of 
even that very brief ceremony, but interrupted it, exclaim- 



LAST DAYS OF LEE'S ARMY 207 

ing, 'I did not think that you could come through that lire 
alive. I said to Haskell, "That man will certainly be 
killed." ' 

'T presented General McGowan's request. He responded 
that it would have been well to have a battery at the point 
indicated, but added, that it would be useless to attempt 
now to put one into action there ; and he went on to say : 
'Stay here with me. Your brigade will be back here in a 
few minutes; and then you can join them.' 'But,' said I, 
T must go back, and report to General McGowan.' He re- 
joined: T will not consent to your exposure to that fire 
again.' 'But,' I protested, 'my duty is all the same. And 
the fire is not so very hot after all.' (And I still think 
that the danger was not so great as it appeared to him.) He 
repeated: 'Stay here with me.' But quickly perceiving my 
worry, he said : 'Well, I will let you go, if you promise me 
that you will not ride over the open ground, but will take 
the somewhat longer route through the woods.' I promised 
to do as he wished, and rode back to my post. But, as I 
picked my way through the woods, I thought more of the 
recent occurrence than of the battle to which I was re- 
turning, thinking: 'Here is a second Sir Philip Sidney — a 
valiant warrior, a fierce fighter, an officer of next to the 
highest rank in our army, who, in the midst of battle and 
amid all the cares and responsibilities of his high office, is 
of so kind and tender a heart, that he is seriously concerned 
for the safety of an officer of low rank, who, until now, was 
utterly unknown to him, and had not the least claim to his 
consideration.' Richard Heron Anderson was the very 
'Flower of Chivalry' ; and he fully exemplified the often 
quoted sentiment of Bayard Taylor: 

" 'The bravest are the tenderest, — 
'The loving are the daring.' " 



208 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

"Here is a second Sir Philip Sidney." So Major Cald- 
well characterizes Gen. R. H. Anderson. The very same 
words used describing an equally tender and humane an- 
cestor of the General's, his grandfather, Col. Richard 
Anderson, of the Maryland Line of Revolutionary days, who 
was wounded at the Battle of Green Swamp (generally 
known as the Battle of Camden, S. C), and within twenty- 
five miles of "Hill Crest," which afterwards became the 
home of his descendants. It is told by Miss Emily Emer- 
son Lentz as follows : "A story which rivals in beauty of 
Christian feeling, the act of the dying Sir Philip Sidney, 
who relinquished a cup of water to the parched lips of a 
wounded soldier, is told of Captain Anderson on this occa- 
sion. The two officers in their endeavors to resuscitate the 
apparently dying Captain Anderson, solicited a draught of 
water from a Tory sympathizer residing at a farm not far 
from the field of battle. The water was refused by the Tory 
and one of the indignant officers was in the act of putting 
him to death, when Captain Anderson raised his feeble 
voice and declared that he could not allow vengeance to be 
slaked in the blood of his fellow countryman except on the 
field of battle." 

Genl. Richard H. Anderson had inherited the virtues as 
well as the name of his noble ancestor. In the two great 
Wars which have swept over our country, that of the Revo- 
lution and that of the Confederacy, there was in each a 
Richard Anderson of the same family, and each won laurels 
and fame for chivalric, daring, gallant service. 

After the disastrous defeat of Pickett at Five Forks, 
Anderson gathered what scattered fragments of the com- 
mand possible and with the Brigades he had brought up, 
formed the remnants of his once splendid Corps. (Hoke 
had been detached for service around Wilmington.) He 
was cut off from Petersburg and knew of the evacuation of 
the City, and was ordered to retreat Westwardly. He was 



LAST DAYS OF LEE'S ARMY 209 

subsequently joined, near Amelia Court House, by General 
Ewell, who had left Richmond with Kershaw's and G. W. 
C. Lee's Divisions. April 5th General Lee sent him di- 
rections how to move. April 6th the Enemy cut into the 
line of march and the battle was fought at Sailor's Creek. 

In the line of march Pickett's Division, leading Ander- 
son's Corps, was ordered to follow close on Mahone's Di- 
vision, the rear of Longstreet. But the road being obstruct- 
ed with the straggling wagon train, Pickett lost the con- 
nection with Mahone. Anderson was followed by Ewell, 
while Gordon was bringing up the rear. General Lee's re- 
port says : "About midday, immediately after crossing a lit- 
tle stream, within about two miles of Sailor's Creek, the 
enemy's cavalry made an attack upon a portion of General 
Anderson's column, at the point where the wagon train 
turned off to the right, causing some delay and confusion 
in the train. The Cavalry was soon driven off and G. W. C. 
Lee's Division, followed by General Kershaw's, closed upon 
Anderson." The trains were turned into a road to the right 
and nearer to the river and when Gordon came up he fol- 
lowed them and thus escaped the subsequent disaster at 
Sailor's Creek. This left Ewell as the rear guard and 
Anderson checked by a strong force on his front, which had 
occupied the gap between Pickett and Mahone. On con- 
sultation between Anderson and Ewell, it was arranged that 
Ewell should protect the rear, while Anderson assaulted the 
forces in front and endeavored to cut his way through. 
While meeting with some partial success at first, the over- 
whelming numbers of the Enemy repulsed Anderson, pressed 
heavily upon Ewell, overpowering both and capturing or 
dispersing both Corps. Among the captured were General 
Ewell and all of his Division and Brigade Commanders and 
his entire Corps. 

Longstreet says, referring to Anderson and Ewell in this 
battle: "There was yet a way of escape from the closing 



210 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

clutches of the Enemy, by filing to their right and marching 
to the rear of the Command at Rice's Station; but they 
were true soldiers and decided to fight, even to sacrifice their 
Commands if necessary, to break or delay the pursuit until 
the trains and rear guard could find safety beyond the High 
Bridge." In this battle he says : "The Confederate rear" 
(Ewell and Anderson) "was crushed to fragments." 

So Anderson's last battle, three days before the final sur- 
render of Lee's glorious Army, was a noble and heroic sacri- 
fice to save the Army. "Fighting" Dick Anderson, true to 
his soubriquet to the last, went down in an ineffable blaze 
of refulgent glory, radiating from high duty well done. 

The affair at Sailor's Creek on April 6th was speedily 
followed on the 9th by the surrender of Lee's glorious 
legions, to the superior numbers of General Grant. Num- 
bers enabled him to strike the wounded Eagle, in front 
and in rear, on the right flank and on the left flank. 
With broken wings the bird of freedom bowed its head to 
receive the shackles of its conqueror. 

General Anderson recounts these events in his own lan- 
guage in his paper from which we have quoted, and in clos- 
ing said : 

"On the afternoon of the ist of April I received orders 
to move with all my remaining force to Church Crossing 
near Ford's Depot and give assistance to our Cavalry who 
were hard pressed by the enemy — General Pickett having 
met with a reverse at Five Forks. 

"I arrived with the troops at General Fitz Lee's Head- 
quarters near Church Crossing at a little before daylight 
but could learn nothing of General Pickett's command. The 
enemy had only a strong force of Cavalry in our front, but 
ours were in no condition to attack him until men and 
horses had some rest, and whilst waiting for them to re- 
cruit a little, information was brought that the enemy had 
carried our lines at Petersburg and at the same time 1 re- 



LAST DAYS OF LEE'S ARMY 211 

ceived orders to retire behind the Appomattox, crossing at 
Bevil's Bridge. 

"On the 3rd of April skirmished all day with the enemy 
and arrived in the vicinity of Bevil's Bridge when General 
Pickett and the remnant of his command (only a few hun- 
dred men), rejoined me. Brig. Generals Ranson and Wal- 
lace of Johnson's Division lost their entire Brigades at 
Five Forks. I received orders to move towards Amelia 
Court House keeping the south side of the Appomattox and 
protecting the wagon trains. 

"On the 4th, marched for Amelia Court House, skir- 
mished all day, and encamped within four miles of it. 
Continued the march on the 5th to and beyond Amelia 
Court House, in the direction of Jetersville. The trains 
were put upon another road, but had not gone ten miles 
from the Court House before they were captured and the 
Reserve ordnance and Medical wagons all destroyed. 
Marched all night and halted a little before daybreak about 
seven miles from Farmville. 

"On the 6th continued the march to Farmville, skirmish- 
ing continually and greatly impeded by wagon trains which 
still blocked up the road. The detention produced by these 
causes opened a wide distance between Mahone's Division 
of Longstreet's Corps, which I was following, and the lead- 
ing troops of my command and the enemy soon interposed 
a strong force between me and Longstreet's Corps. At the 
same time I received notice from General Gordon that he 
was heavil}^ pressed and iu"ging the necessity of pushing 
on. 

General Ewell, coming up with his reserves, we united 
our forces and attempted to drive the enemy off the road, 
but the troops seemed to be wholly broken down and dis- 
heartened. After a feeble effort to advance they gave way 
in confusion and with the exception of one hundred and 
fifty or two hundred men the whole of General Ewell's and 



212 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

my command were captured. This occurred about five miles 
from Farmville (Sailor's Creek). The 7th and 8th were 
occupied by myself and such other officers as escaped in 
endeavoring to get together the fragments of the command, 
but the number above mentioned comprised the whole that 
could be found. On the afternoon of the 8th when near 
Appomattox Court House I was relieved from duty and di- 
rected to repair to my home or any other place that I 
might select and report thence to the Secretary of War. 

"Part of these orders Providence has permitted me to 
execute and part has been suspended indefinitely." 

The quiet manner in which General Anderson thus re- 
fers to his relief from command shows that he was satis- 
fied with the necessity therefor and fully acquiesced in its 
propriety. 

On April 8, 1865, General Lee had only about 8,000 men 
in ranks, though the formal surrender showed 28,356 men 
paroled, the diflference being ineffectives and stragglers. 
Longstreet's and A. P. Hill's Corps (the latter commanded 
by Gen. Jno. B. Gordon), had nearly all of these men who 
were in ranks. After Sailor's Creek, Anderson gathered 
about 200 of his men and Ewell's, whose Corps had been 
captured. There was no Corps left for General Anderson 
and so his distinguished services were really unnecessary to 
the skeleton of Lee's Army and it was proper that he should 
have been relieved. It was a kindness to him, as it allowed 
him to escape the surrender and would have saved his valu- 
able services to the Confederacy if the end had not come so 
soon. 

Immediately on being relieved, General Anderson started 
to join Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina, to oflfer 
his assistance to him. But in evading the toils of the Enemy, 
who had then almost completely surrounded General Lee, 
he had to pursue a very devious course of travel, and be- 
fore he reached General Johnston, the surrender of his 



LAST DAYS OF LEE'S ARMY 213 

Army had taken place. Then he resumed his journey to 
his home, relieved of the muUitude of cares and responsi- 
bilities which had hung heavily on him for four long years, 
all of which he had met as a man, a soldier, a hero, with the 
nobility of a pure heart, a firm hand and unstained name. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Vindication of Gfnfral Anderson From the Insinua- 
tions OF Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, as to the Battle 
of Five Forks. 

The publicity attending the attempts of Gen. Fitzhugh 
Lee, made in his Report of April 22, 1865 (of date after 
he ceased to be a Confederate Officer), and in his evidence 
at the Warren trial (sixteen years after the War), to im- 
plicate and cast the blame of the Confederate failure at 
Five Forks, on General Anderson, demands consideration 
and requires a defence. 

That General Anderson had nothing whatsoever to do 
with this Battle is most clearly shown by the fact that in 
his report to General Lee, already given, he makes no ref- 
erence to the Battle of Five Forks, and only refers to his 
command being ordered, after it ivas over, to Church Cross- 
ing, near Ford Depot, which was to protect the remnants of 
Pickett's and Fitzhugh Lee's commands which had escaped 
capture in that disastrous affair. It is, therefore, sure that 
he had no part therein, or any instructions which would have 
connected him with the battle. 

After a splendid career, rising grade by grade, every 
promotion won by distinguished skill, he reached next to 
the highest rank in the Confederate Army. He had been 
loaded with well-merited honors, several times thanked by 
General Lee for his services to Lee's Army, enabling it to 



GEN. ANDERSON VINDICATED 215 

win victory and characterized all through for his aggres- 
sive fighting qualities and his unflinching devotion to duty. 
But, when the sun of the Confederacy had set forever, 
General Anderson's conduct, as to one of the last battles of 
the Army, Five Forks, was reflected on — and alas ! by a 
comrade who knew him so well. Yes, one who fought 
in many a campaign with and under him, has the enviable 
distinction of being the only man in the Army of Northern 
Virginia Avho ever said an unkind word of or made an 
accusation, unjust as it was, against General Anderson. 
That comrade, Maj. Genl. Fitzhugh Lee, in a paper which 
has, how it is not known, found its way into the Official 
Records of the War, attempts insidiously to throw the blame 
of his own and Pickett's failure at the battle of Five Forks, 
on General Anderson. The "paper" we call it, he calls it a 
"Report," was dated ten days after the surrender of the 
Army, of which he was an officer, at which date the Army 
of Northern Virginia had closed its brilliant career. This 
utterly robs it of its official character, but as it contains 
invidious and injurious reflections on General Anderson, 
it must be noticed, and the character and deeds of General 
Anderson proved not open to a breath of censure, which 
can easily be done. This is noticed and answered with the 
deepest regret for many reasons, among which is the fact 
that the accusing party is dead and cannot answer. How- 
ever, while Gen. Fitzhugh Lee was alive, one of the lead- 
ing figures in that battle exposed Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and 
exonerated General Anderson, to which Gen. Fitzhugh Lee 
made no reply, so he would hardly care now, were he alive, 
to make reply. "De mortuis nil nisi bonum" (of the dead 
let nothing be said but what is favorable), and only the 
vindication of another and greater dead hero requires that 
"De mortuis nil nisi verum" (of the dead let nothing be 
said but what is true). Moreover in relating history, the 
actors should be treated impersonally, and without restric- 



216 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

tion from those finer feelings which govern men in their 
social relations. 

Gen. Fitz Lee, in that paper, without so stating in a 
straightforward manly manner, by the adroit use of lan- 
guage, clearly endeavors to create the following impres- 
sions : First, That it was General Anderson's duty to have 
supported Pickett and Fitz Lee at Five Forks, if such 
support had been necessary; second, that he did not move 
to give such support until too late; third, that when he 
did move he came by a circuituous route, and fourth, that 
if he had advanced in time, and by the direct route he would 
have struck the rear of the attacking Federal forces and 
possibly have changed the result of the battle. 

The parts of this paper, which give evidence of Gen. 
Fitz Lee desiring to create this impression are as follows : 

"Report of Major General Fitzhugh Lee, Commanding 
Cavalry Corps. 

"Richmond, April 22nd, 1865. 
"General Robert E. Lee: 

"General, I comply with pleasure with the desire ex- 
pressed by you to have a report of the last operations of the 
Cavalry of your Army and have the honor to submit the 
following : 

* * * "Everything continued quiet until about 3 P. M. 
when a report reached me of a large body of infantry 
marching around and menacing our left flank. * * * 

"The disastrous halt was made at Five Forks upon the 
day of our retrograde movement from Dinwiddie Court 
House, on account of the importance of the location as a 
point of observation to watch and develop movements then 
evidently in contemplation for an attack on our left flank 
or upon our line of railroad communication, the importance 
of preserving which intact, could not be overestimated. 



GEN. ANDERSON VINDICATED 217 

* * * I remained in position on Hatcher's Run, near Five 
Forks, during the night and was joined by the Cavalry, 
which was driven back the previous afternoon and by 
Lieut. Gen. Anderson with Wise's and Gracie's Brigades, 
who, leaving the position at Burgess' Mill, had marched by 
a circuitous route to our relief. Had he advanced up the 
direct road it zvould have brought him on the flank and 
rear of the infantry forming the enemy's right, zvhich at- 
tacked our left at Five Forks, and probably changed the re- 
sult of the unequal contact. Whilst Anderson was march- 
ing, the Fifth Corps was marching back, and was enabled 
to participate in the attack upon our lines the next day 
whilst the services of the three infantry Brigades which 
General Anderson reinforced us, by too late for use and 
the five with Pickett by their absence, increased the dis- 
parity between the contending forces upon the next day for 
the possession of the lines circumvallating Petersburg." * * * 

(The General is rather off in his deductions, for the 
Fifth Corps, Warren's, is not recorded as taking part in 
the assaults on Petersburg on April 2nd, and so the ab- 
sence of the eight Brigades referred to, did not alter re- 
sults.) 

Fighting Dick Anderson, charged with not wanting to 
fight and with neglect of duty ! A most cursory review of 
his character and of his entire military career would prove 
the utter falseness of such charges, even without going into 
any details regarding the battle of Five Forks ! General 
Anderson doubtless had faults — no man is without them — • 
not excepting the great Apostle Paul — but he was a devotee 
to duty, to duty at all hazards, to duty, if life itself was 
the penalty. 

Five Forks was a strategic position covering the ap- 
proaches from the enemy's left to the South Side Railroad, 
the only remaining line by which Lee could receive supplies 
to support his Army in Petersburg. The enemy had grad- 



218 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

ually worked round on Lee's right flank, until they were 
ready to strike and close this last open line for supplies. 
Gen. Fitzhugh Lee recognized its importance as shown in 
his above cited Report and yet left his command, going two 
or three miles to the rear, to enjoy the Rosser Shad Bake. 
Grant sent Sheridan's and Warren's Corps, under com- 
mand of General Sheridan, to accomplish this work. Lee 
dispatched as large a force as his reduced numbers would 
allow, Pickett with the Brigades of Stuart, Corse, and Terry 
of his Division and those of Ransom and Wallace of B. R. 
Johnson's Division, together with all the Cavalry under Fitz- 
hugh Lee. General Fitzhugh, in his paper, generally de- 
scribes the battle. 

Fortunate was it for Gen. Fitz Lee that he had a report 
from one of his Division Commanders in that battle or he 
could not have described it. The sad truth of the matter 
was that neither he nor Pickett were with their commands 
when the battle took place. Pickett and Lee had placed 
their troops in a good defensive position at Five Forks, and 
then they went two or three miles to the rear to enjoy a 
"Shad Bake" which General Rosser had prepared, the shad 
having been caught by him in the Nottaway River. The 
luscious shad and its comcomitants, were so very tempting 
that the Generals heeded not the reports of Staff Officers 
and Couriers sent by General Munford, urging Gen. Fitz 
Lee's presence with his command, nor did it influence Gen- 
eral Pickett, who was by the same messengers informed, 
first, that his troops were seriously threatened, and after- 
wards that they were being attacked. Neither left that lunch 
until too late ! It may be very doubtful if the presence of 
these General Officers with their commands, would have 
changed the results, but their duty was the same. Pickett 
only started to go to his command after the Federal Troops, 
turning his left, had reached a position between the line and 
the place of the "Shad Bake." Fitz Lee never crossed 



GEN. ANDERSON VINDICATED 219 

Hatcher's Run to join his Cavalry, and only met the rem- 
nants thereof when they were driven from the field of battle 
to him. (See his Report.) 

The following description, based upon information given 
Gen. Fitz Hugh Lee after the surrender, fairly narrates 
the general story of the battle of Five Forks : 

"Everything continued quiet until about 3 P. M. when 
reports reached me of a large body of infantry marching 
around and menacing our left flank. I ordered Munford 
to go in person, ascertain the exact conditions of affairs, 
hold his command (he commanded Fitzhugh Lee's Division 
of Cavalry), in readiness and if necessary, order it up at 
once. (By General Munford's testimony and that of Gen. 
Fitzhugh Lee, given at the Warren trial, this took place 
about I o'clock, as Gen. Fitz Lee was riding off to the 
"Shad Bake.") He soon sent for it, and it reached its 
position just in time to receive the attack. A Division of 
two small brigades of cavalry was not able to withstand 
the attack of a Federal Corps of Infantry and that force 
soon crushed in Pickett's left flank, swept it away, and be- 
fore Rosser could cross Hatcher's Run the position at the 
forks was seized and held and an advance towards the rail- 
road made. It (the advance towards the railroad), was 
repulsed by Rosser. Pickett was driven rapidly toward 
the prolongation of the right of his line of battle by the 
combined attacks of this infantry Corps and Sheridan's 
Cavalry, maiking a total of over twenty-five thousand (25,- 
000) men to which he was opposed with seven thousand 
(7,000) confederates of all arms. Our forces were driven 
back some miles, the retreat degenerating into a rout, be- 
ing followed up principally by the Cavalry, whilst the in- 
fantry corps held the position our troops were first driven 
from, threatening an advance upon the railroad and para- 
lyzing the force of reserve cavalry by necessitating its be- 



220 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

ing stationary in an interposing position to check or retard 
such ah advance." 

While all this was happening at Five Forks where was 
General Anderson? Just where his duty called him, and 
where General R. E. Lee posted him. He, with the re- 
mainder of B. R. Johnson's Division, was at Burgess' Mill, 
about four miles east of Five Forks, the extreme right of 
the Confederate's Hne around Petersburg. Gen. R. E. Lee 
was extremely anxious about his right, so he placed in 
charge thereof, one of his most reliable, devoted and skill- 
ful officers, Lt. Gen. R. H. Anderson. Such was the situa- 
tion at Five Forks and with General Anderson, four miles 
distant, at Burgess' Mill. 

The general situation being thus presented, one can more 
clearly understand the argument refuting the unworthy im- 
putation of Gen. Fitz Lee as to General Anderson. 

1st. He endeavors to create the impression that it was 
General Anderson's duty to have supported Pickett and Fitz 
Lee at Five Forks if such support had been necessary. 

In General Anderson's paper hereinbefore inserted, giving 
account of his service during the final months of the War, 
General Anderson not only says not one word of his having 
any orders to support Pickett and Lee, but he does not 
mention the battle. As the paper is a record of his services 
and he makes no mention of Five Forks (until it is over 
and he sent to aid the troops defeated thereat), it is evi- 
dent that he never conceived that he had anything to do 
with that battle. No record of any orders directing him to 
give such support can be found in the War of the Rebel- 
lion Records, nor is any known to have appeared in any 
publication whatsoever, save Fitz Lee's insinuations. As he 
had not received any such orders no blame can be attached 
to him for not obeying any such hypothetical orders. 

But it might be said that being in charge of the right of 
the lines of defence, that it was his duty to aid any forces 



GEN. ANDERSON VINDICATED 221 

in trouble in the vicinity of the right. It is very doubtful 
if such would have been his duty, because he could hardly 
be justified in withdrawing troops from a part of the line 
which had been desperately attacked the day before and 
still was in danger of a renewed attack, to voluntarily, on 
his own judgment and at his own risks, move to assist in a 
battle four miles distant. If, however, he should have done 
so, he could not properly act until notified of the necessity 
for his support. Gen. Fitz Lee commanded all the Cavalry 
of the Army. He was then operating to the right of Lee's 
Army. They, the Cavalry, were the eyes and ears of that 
Army. Their duty was to have advised General Anderson 
if his assistance was required. That Gen. Fitzhugh Lee 
did not notify General Anderson is evident, primarily and 
conclusively from General Anderson's paper; and then be- 
cause Gen. Fitz Lee does not even claim to have sent to 
General Anderson asking his support, and could not have 
sent any such message, as his time and thoughts were fully 
engrossed in that Rosser "Shad Bake." Further, his opin- 
ion (proved sadly erroneous by subsequent developments) 
of the reported Federal movements against his command at 
Five Forks, was as he said that they were not serious enough 
to cause him to forsake the Shad Bake to discharge his 
duty. So, if he did not feel called upon to do that, he 
could hardly have considered that a necessity had arisen 
which required the co-operation of General Anderson. Fitz- 
high Lee's not leaving the Shad Bake shows that he did 
not think that there was any necessity for help, and if he 
did feel that help was required, he certainly did not give 
General Anderson notice. Or — we hesitate, in fact we de- 
cline to characterize Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's action — if he 
thought he needed Anderson's support and yet would not 
abandon the Shad Bake and join his own men, who were 
gallantly and desperately battling with a superior force of 
the enemy. 



222 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Then General Anderson, when he did move, after the de- 
feat of Pickett and Lee at Five Forks, did so under orders 
received about 5 145 P. M., to Church Crossing, and not to 
Five Forks. Consider this carefully. He was ordered to go 
to Church Crossing-. His troops moved at 6 :30 P. M. Gen. 
B. R. Johnson in his report says : "At 4 P. M. heavy firing 
was heard in the vicinity of Five Forks. At 5 :45 I received 
orders from Lt. Gen. Anderson to move with Wise's and 
Moody's and Hunton's Brigades to Church Crossing, 
on the South Side Railroad, and at 6 :30 P. M. was in 
motion. At 2 A. M. on the 2nd April we arrived at the 
Crossing." Anderson, as ordered, moved to Church Cross- 
ing, not to Five Forks. The only movement he was ordered 
to miake was not one to support the battle at Five Forks. 

There was but one man in the Army who had authority to 
order General Anderson, the Commander in Chief, General 
Lee. The hour at which the order was received from him, 
being after the defeat at Five Forks, and he being directed 
to march to Church Crossing, clearly shows that his move- 
hient was to protect the routed troops driven from Five 
Forks, and not to support them at Five Forks, where they 
were attacked. 

It is not impossible that either General Pickett or Fitz- 
hugh Lee, or perhaps both, had been directed by Gen. R. E. 
Lee to call on General Anderson, if his co-operation was 
needed. If so, their absence from their commands and 
presence at the Rosser Shad Bake, prevented their knowing 
of their personal knowledge, of the necessity of such sup- 
port, or of the importance of their calling for the same. 
That they did not heed the warnings sent by General Mun- 
ford, shows that they did not appreciate the danger or the 
necessity for General Anderson's support, and hence could 
not have sent to General Anderson asking therefor. 

So there cannot attach one iota of blame to General An- 



GEN. ANDERSON VINDICATED 223 

derson for his not moving to Five Forks to support the 
troops there. 

2nd. Fitz Lee charges that General Anderson did not 
move to give such support until too late. 

General Anderson could not move, giving up the defence 
of that part of the lines around Petersburg to the com- 
mand of which he had been assigned, until, either urgently 
called for and even then he would have had to assume the 
responsibility— or until ordered. He was never called, and 
when he was ordered it was after the Confederates had been 
routed at Five Forks, and even then not to give them sup- 
port on the battlefield, but to go to the Church Crossing, in 
which direction they were supposed to have been driven. 
He had no call of duty or orders to go to Five Forks and 
never even moved towards that point. Fie could not have 
been "too late" to aid at Five Forks, when never ordered to 
go there, nor attempted to do so. 

3rd. He charges that when General Anderson did move, 
he came by a circuituous route. If he had been ordered or 
had moved to support Pickett and Fitzhugh Lee, at Five 
Forks, he certainly took a circuituous route to reach that 
point. But he was ordered to Church Crossing, on the 
South Side Railroad, and did move straight to that point, 
where he found Gen. Fitzhugh Lee when he arrived before 
daylight the next morning. Doubtless Fitz Lee was mighty 
glad to see him that morning. So the "circuituous route" 
is a myth. 

4th. He says that if Anderson had advanced in time, and 
by the direct route he would have struck the rear of the 
Federal forces and possibly changed the results of the battle. 

It has been shown that Anderson had no orders nor 
calls of any kind to make such movement. But if he had 
. been inspired by some good spirit to have made the move 
and at the exactly right time, what would have been the re- 
sult? If General Anderson, with three small brigades, prob- 



224 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

ably not over three thousand men, had so attacked, Sheridan 
could easily have spared a strong enough force from his 
27,000 men, who were engaged with only 7,000 Confeder- 
ates, to have ' easily repulsed an attack made even by the 
skillful and valorous "Fighting Dick Anderson." 

At the trial of Gen. G. K. Warren, General Sheridan tes- 
titied that if the force of Anderson had been thrown against 
him, that Pickett would probably have taken him to Libby 
Prison with four thousand of his men, instead of his cap- 
turing numbers of Pickett's. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee makes a 
similar statement when he said: "Had he (Anderson) ad- 
vanced up the direct road it would have brought him on the 
flank and rear of the infantry forming the enemy's right, 
Vv'hich attacked our left at Five Forks, and probably changed 
the result of the unequal contest." The remarkable concur- 
rence of the testimony of Federal General Sheridan and 
Confederate Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, sixteen years after the 
occurrence of the event, can only be accounted for by their 
having had a full and free conference regarding the battle, 
before Sheridan gave his testimony. Evidently Fitzhugh 
Lee had impressed General Sheridan by the version of the 
Confederate movements on that occasion, which he wished 
to perpetuate, and for which it is not unlikely that his pa- 
per of April 23d was prepared. General Sheridan, unless 
deceived as to the strength of General Anderson's command, 
should have known that he could easily have spared the 
troops to repulse such supposititous attack from General 
Anderson. Sheridan, unfortunately and unjustly had very 
little confidence in General Warren, commanding the Fed- 
eral Infantry, serving with him. This may have led him, 
however, to believe that a feeble attack on the rear of War- 
ren's Corps would have demoralized it to such an extent 
as to prevent 27,000 men from defeating 7,000. But it is 
more probable that he was influenced by Gen. Fitz Lee's 
account, Fitz Lee, it is sad to relate, did know that if any 



GEN. ANDERSON VINDICATED 225 

order was given by Gen. R. E. Lee, through him, to be 
transmuted to General Anderson to support the troops at 
Five Forks, that it was never delivered. He also is pre- 
sumed to have known that Anderson could not have moved 
by the "direct road," the White Oak Road, because about 
1 o'clock it was occvipied by McKenzie's Division of Fed- 
eral Cavalry, and soon after, about 4 o'clock by Warren's 
Corps. Neither of whom Anderson would have been likely 
to be able to defeat. As before shown, Fitzhugh Lee knew 
nothing, from his own experience, of the battle, being en- 
gaged in the enjoyment of the luscious "Shad Bake." He 
was guarding his throat from the feathery shad bones, and 
not guarding the great Lee against the disaster which the 
failure at Five Forks brought upon the Army of Northern 
Virginia. 

The problematically hopeful movement of General An- 
derson, which he was never directed or called upon |;o make, 
only existed in the brain of the distinguished Cavalry 
Leader. 

Thus we have clearly shown that General Anderson was 
wrongly blamed by Gen. Fitzhugh Lee ; that he had nothing 
to do with Five Forks, his assistance was never asked, nor 
did his duty require it. General Anderson, when the battle 
of Five Forks was being waged, four miles distant, was at 
his assigned post of duty, doing his full duty, and doing it 
well and properly. 

Evidence as to Generals Pickett and Fitzhugh Lee's Absence 

From Their Commands at the Battle of Five Forks and 

Attendance at General Rosser's Shad Bake. 

The following evidence shows : 

That Generals Pickett and Fitz Lee, having placed their 
commands in a strong position, left their troops, between 
12 and I o'clock April i, 1865. 

That they crossed Hatcher's Run and went to Gen. T. L. 



226 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Rosser's Headquarters, some two or three miles in rear of 
the line of battle. 

That they went there, on invitation of General Rosser, 
to partake of a Shad Bake. 

That they, while there, were advised of the advance and 
actual formation for attack of the enemy and did not then 
rejoin their commands. 

That after Pickett's troops had been defeated, about 5 
o'clock at the earliest, he rejoined what was left if his Di- 
vision, with much personal gallantry, exhibited in doing so, 
and then was driven from the tield with them. That Fitz- 
hugh Lee never crossed Hatcher's Run to join his Cavalry, 
but that parts of his force were driven back to him. 

That at least four hours was given by General Pickett 
and Fitz Lee to the enjoyment of this Shad Bake, when the 
fate of General Lee's Army rested upon the troops under 
their command and direction. 

From General Munford's unpublished Sketch of the Battle 
of Five Forks: 

"Very near i o'clock, while we were eating dinner, a 
courier came with information to me of the stir on our 
left with General Robert's pickets. Feeling the importance 
of the information, I at once rode to Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's 
headquarters. I found him mounted and on the point of 
leaving. I handed him the duplicate sent me by the Adju- 
tant of the Eighth Cavalry. He read it and said, 'Munford, 
I wish you would go on in person and see what this means, 
and if necessary, order up your division.' I started in a 
few minutes, taking with me Capt. Harry Lee, and several 
couriers, and as I was going to the front" (South or East) 
"Gen. Fitz Lee and Gen. Pickett passed going North to- 
wards the crossing of Hatcher's Run. * * * j found that 
Roberts had been pushed from the White Oak Road and 
that it was held by McKenzie's Federal Cavalry, east of us. 
Within the next few minutes I discovered the Fifth (Fed- 



GEN. ANDERSON VINDICATED 227 

eral) Corps forming. I instantly dispatched to General Fitz 
Lee and to General Pickett, giving them this information, 
and ordered my division to move to that point as quickly as 
they could come through the woods over a very narrow 
road. I sent Capt. Henry Lee, of my staff, a brother of 
Gen. Fitz Lee, to bring up my men and to tell Gen. Pickett 
and Gen. Fitz Lee what he personally had seen. He rode 
the whole of the line of battle hoping to meet Gen. Pickett — 
not being able to find General Pickett, he notified his staff 
officers. Meanwhile I dispatched several other couriers, re- 
peating this information and urging General Pickett and 
General Fitzhugh Lee to come in person to the front, but 
unfortunately the two Generals had gone to Rosser's head- 
quarters, two miles oft". I will introduce, at the proper time 
two letters from General Rosser, one published by him in 
the Philadelphia Weekly Times, and the other written to 
an officer of the Federal Army in good standing, which ex- 
plains the cause and the effect of the absence of these offi- 
cers from their commands :" * * * 

"When I arrived at the Ford Road, having surmounted 
the obstacles mentioned, and being still vigorously pressed 
by Crawford, I met Gen. Geo. E. Pickett coming from the 
wagon train. It was not far from Hatcher's Run. He gal- 
loped up to me, and looking at the Federals asked, 'What 
troops are those?' adding the very next moment, 'Do hold 
them back till I pass to go to Five Forks.' " Which Gen- 
eral Munford did. "Meantime General Pickett having 
thrown himself forward upon his horse and leaning to the 
right side, ran the gauntlet, under a hot fire for several hun- 
dred yards, and dashed towards his broken lines. I did not 
look at my watch but the attack was begun after 4 o'clock, 
and we had been fighting and skirmishing over a rough 
country for full two miles by actual measurement. The long 
shadows were very perceptible as the sun was not far above 
the tops of the trees." 



228 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

From the testimony in the trial of Gen. G. K. Warren, 
of the Federal Army, sixteen years after the War, the fol- 
lowing testimony is taken : 

Published records of said trial are in the Confederate 
Museum at Richmond, Va. 

Gen. Fitzhugh Lee: I personally remained in front from 
nine until twelve o'clock. Everything being quiet I left 
the line and rode down the road to the crossing of Hatcher's 
Run to see General Pickett. I found him on the other side 
of Hatcher's Run. He had ridden back to give some di- 
rections about wagons (see Rosser letter). After talking 
with him a little while I passed on still further down the 
road, North, toward the Church road where our wagons 
were, to see General Rosser in reference to ammunition and 
rations for his command. 

Question : Were you still North of Hatcher's Run when 
you first heard firing? Answer: I was with General Rosser 
north of Hatcher's Run, and I think that is one of the in- 
cidents of the contest so far as I was personally concerned, 
for as soon as I got information of the attack on the left" 
(he must have referred to the attack which crushed Pick- 
ett's left and not the preliminary advance, as he was ad- 
vised of hours before by General Munford), "I immediate- 
ly mounted my horse and before I could get to where the 
road crosses Hatcher's Run to go to Dinwiddie Court House, 
from my position North of it, I found that the road was 
in possession of the enemy's infantry. I saw the infantry 
myself. I rode up and was shot at. I rode back and moved 
General Rosser's command up and attempted to force the 
division across and was repulsed." Question: Was that 
the spot where General Pickett crossed at that joint just 
before? Answer: As I came galloping up the road, I saw 
him crossing — I saw him throw himself down on his horse. 
I heard the firing and knew that he was being shot at. 
Question : He was lying down on his horse so as to protect 



GEN. ANDERSON VINDICATED 229 

himself from the fire? Answer: Yes. Question: Can you 
fix the time when the Federal infantry got possession of 
the Ford on that day ? Answer : I can only fix it in this 
way : My report, written three weeks afterwards, stated that 
the main attack began at 3 o'clock. I understood that there 
was an hour and a half or two liours fighting on our left 
before the road was reached. That would make it about 
half past four or five." 

Gen. Fitz Lee was then asked to state the hour the attack 
began at Five Forks. His reply was: "I will answer that 
question by simply stating it will be recollected that the 
hour 3 P. M. was stated in my official report that I made 
to Gen. Robert E. Lee three weeks after the occurrence. 
I believe that was the particular hour from my conversa- 
tion with those officers of my command who were upon the 
left. Question : From reports made to you by your sub- 
ordinate Commanders ? Answer : Yes. General Munford, 
whom you examined will probably be able to give you a 
more accurate answer than I can as to that." 

He was not on the battlefield and personally knew noth- 
ing except what he learned from others ! 

Extracts from Letters of Gen. T. L. Rosser 

From his letter published in the Philadelphia Weekly 
Times, April 5, 1895: 

"I found Pickett at Five Forks and as the country was 
too heavily wooded for the operations of Cavalry, I asked 
permission to move back about a mile to his rear, on the 
other side of Hatcher's Run and remove saddles and feed. 
I had brought some excellent fresh shad from the Nottoway 
River with me, and I invited General Pickett to go back 
and lunch with me— he promised to be with me in an hour. 
He and Fitz Lee came back to me. While we were at 
lunch, Couriers came back from officers in command of the 
pickets on the White Oak Road and other parallel roads, 



230 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

reporting the advance of the enemy. Some time was spent 
over the lunch, during which no firing was heard." (They 
were three miles from where the fight began.) "And we 
concluded that the enemy was not in much of a hurry to 
find us at Five Forks. A courier sent to the Five Forks 
from us, was fired at over the creek and came galloping 
back — reporting the enemy were in the road in front of us 
and in rear of our position at Five Forks. General Pickett 
made an efifort to join his command. He came riding back 
in a great hurry and called for the Dinwiddle Troops as 
guide and rode off with them, but I think his troops were 
routed before he reached them. The battle of Five Forks 
was of short duration, but quite used up that portion of the 
Army engaged. It seems to have been a surprise to General 
Pickett. One would have supposed that he would have been 
on the alert in the presence of the enemy he had been so 
recently fighting." 

Extract from his letter to Capt. A. S. Peckham, Washing- 
ton, D. C: 

"The day I spent on the Nottaway River I caught quite 
a lot of very fine shad by dragging a borrowed seine, and 
having them along with me in my ambulance, I invited Fitz 
Lee and Pickett back to a Shad Bake. While we were en- 
joying a most delightful meal the pickets reported the ad- 
vance of the enemy on all the roads I was picketing. These 
reports were made to Pickett and to Lee, and as the position 
at Five Forks was considered well chosen and strong, but 
little attention was given to the enemy's advance. * * * 
Fitz Lee remained with me, about Sunset Pickett returned 
and asked for the entire Dinwiddle Troop and again left 
me, and I saw nothing more of him." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The Confederacy's Chances of Success. 

The question may now be asked : "If the Southern Con- 
federacy ever had a reasonable chance of success !" It is 
due to the patriots of the Confederacy to say, that the noble 
and natural feelings which impelled them to resistance to 
coercion, their scorn at the mere thought of yielding them- 
selves to the oppression of an enemy, their devoted deter- 
mination to defend their rights, banished from their minds 
even the consideration of the material chances of success. 
They were sure they were right and that they were justified 
by the laws of God and of man, so they never halted to 
weigh the hazard. So firmly were they convinced of the 
justice and rightfulness of their cause, that they believed 
that their antagonists must acknowledge it. State Sovereign- 
ty and the consequent absolute right of Secession, was so 
fixed in the belief of the people of the South, that they 
could not conceive that it would be doubted by any, par- 
ticularly by those States which in the past had several times 
threatened a like course for themselves. Many thought 
that "Secession was a peaceable remedy," which v;ould be 
readily acknowledged by all the States which remained in 
the Union. An honorable statesman and leader, voicing 
this sentiment, said : "that he would drink all the blood 
which would be spilled." How little these knew of the pur- 
poses and objects of the Radical Party, which had placed 



232 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Abraham Lincoln at the head of the Federal Government! 
When the war ensued, the Confederates were still hopeful 
and confident ; they felt that Right must prevail. They 
had yet to learn the sad lesson, that "Providence was on 
the side of strong Battalions." 

They had, however, a few chances of success : 

First, if the Union Rout at Bull Run, had been followed 
by a prompt advance on Washington, the Confederacy might 
have succeeded. At that time the war sentiment of the 
North had not been crystalized, the Confederacy had many 
sympathizers among its people, there were many avowedly 
opposed to coercion, and many who conceded the legality 
of secession. An invasion and the capture of the Capital 
would probably have caused a cessation of the war. Whether 
or not such movement was practicable need not be consid- 
ered. But it is highly probable that if the Confederate Army 
in Virginia had been commanded by the aggressive, fig-hting 
Robert E. Lee, rather than the more cautious Joseph E. 
Johnson and Beauregard, that it would have been attempted. 

Second, there would have been a reasonable prospect of 
success, if the Confederates had been able to continue a ht- 
tle longer, the succession of glorious victories they had 
achieved up to Chancellorsville. Such would have had so 
depressing an effect on the Northern people as to have 
broken their confidence in their leaders and demoralized 
their finances. 

Third, there would have been another reasonable pros- 
pect of success if Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson had not been 
mortally wounded at Shiloh? If he had lived, that battle 
would most surely have culminated in a decisive Confederate 
victory and thus have totally eclipsed Gen. U. S. Grant. 
Then he never would have been entrusted with the command 
of the Federal Army in Virginia. He was the only general 
who handled the Union Army in Virginia so as to overcome 
the veterans of Lee's Army. He saved the Union. 



CHANCES OF SUCCESS 233 

Fourth, there was always a sHm chance of success, min- 
gled, to be sure, with a fond hope, that the Southern Con- 
federacy would have been recognized by Great Britain and 
France. With their moral backing and commercial as- 
sistance, even without military help, the Southern Confed- 
eracy would have succeeded in establishing its independence. 
Napoleon was favorable, but Great Britain withheld her 
approval. It does seem strange that Great Britain so de- 
cided. She had everything to gain and little to lose. She 
could have by such alliance have won the South's cotton, 
and a large market for her manufactures. Her interest 
certainly seemed to point to the immense advantage she 
would have gained by her recognition of the Southern Con- 
federacy. Why was it not given? Because of the preju- 
dices and passions of many of her people against slavery. 
That part of her people who would have gained the greatest 
benefit was opposed by this misleading sentiment. The 
South's friends were the Tory Party, and its enemies the 
Liberal Party, which embraced the manufacturing and com- 
mercial classes, who would have been directly benefited. 
When the Tory Party, of which Disraeli was the leader, 
was in power in 1863, Great Britain was on the point of 
recognizing the Confederacy, when some local political meas- 
ure was yielded by the Liberals and the vote failed in Par- 
liament. The compromise was made, while the voting on the 
question of the recognition of the Southern Confederacy was 
actually going on, and Disraeli could only defeat it by per- 
sonally leaving the Plouse, carrying with him such Tory 
members as had not voted. So narrow were the chances of 
recognition by Great Britain ! 

Fifth, there would have been a greater chance of success 
if the Southern people had realized that Secession involved 
a War of coercion and that it was not to be a peaceable sep- 
aration. Then they could have prepared in advance for 
the struggle. 



234 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Sixth, there never would have been a War if the serfdom 
of the African Negroes had been called by any other name 
than "Slavery." 

This designation was absolutely loathed by all free men, 
and brought on the country which supported it, the hatred 
and abhorrence of the enlightened world. The humane and 
christianized status of the negro in the South was not thor- 
oughly known, so it was assumed that the race was bur- 
dened with all the wrongs and cruelties attached to known 
slavery. As has been shown, the passions aroused by some 
of the people of the United States from their utter ignor- 
ance of true conditions, made impossible any peaceful set- 
tlement of political differences between the sections and 
thus brought on the war. This ill-fated epithet also antagon- 
ized the more enlightened nations of the world against the 
Southern Confederacy. 

But all this is mere speculation. Momentous events, 
changing the destiny of our country have happened, never 
mind what were the "ifs". The South by some unforseen 
and accidental chance may have succeeded. Its people be- 
lieved they had a right to success and for it struggled most 
nobly. 

But alas ! the chances were slight with the tremendous 
preponderance of numbers and facilities against it, backed 
by the sympathy and aid of the world. It did not ! But 
might does not make right. The decision of the sword 
proved, not that the South was wrong or that its principles 
were erroneous, but that the stronger power materially 
crushed the weaker. It proved, not that its principles were 
false, but that the Southern Confederacy had not the 
strength to defend them. 

"Might ! sing your triumphant songs ! 

Each song but sounds a shame. 
Go down the world in loud-voiced throngs 
To win from the future, fame. 



CHANCES OF SUCCESS 235 

"Our ballads, bo.rn of tears, 

Will track you on your way, 
And win the hearts of the future years 

For the men who wore the gray. 
"All lost ; but by the graves 

Where martyred heroes rest. 
He wins the most who honor saves — 

Success is not the test. 

"The world shall yet decide 

In truth's clear, far-off light 
That the soldiers who wore the gray and died 

With Lee, were in the right." 

— "Father Ryan." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

General Anderson's Commands. 

Regiments and Battalions of Infantry which served under 
the command of General Richard H. Anderson during the 
War, at different times and places : 

Alabama: Regiments— 4th, 8tli, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 

41st, 43rd, 44th, 47th, 48th, 59th, 60th 15 

Battalion— 23rd 1 

Arkansas : Regiment — 3rd 1 

Florida: Regiments — 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th 4 

Georgia: Regiments— 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 
ISth, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 27th, 
28th, 48th, SOth 51st, 53rd, 59th, 64th, Cobb's Legion, 

Philip's Legion 28 

Battalions— 2nd, 10th - 2 

Louisiana : Regiment — 1st 1 

Mississippi : Regiments— 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 

19th, 21st, 48th 10 

North Carolina: Regiments— 8th, 17th, 24th, 25th, 31st, 35th, 

36th, 40th, 42nd, 49th, 50th, 51st, 56th, 61st, 66th 15 

South Carolina : Regiments— 1st (Regulars) 1st, (Gregg's) 1st 
(Hagood's), 2nd, 2nd (Rifles) 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 
11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 
23rd, 25th, 26th, 27tli, Palmetto Sharpshooters, Orr's 

Rifles, Holcombe Legion 27 

Battalions— 3rd, 4th, 7th 3 

Texas : Regiments — 1st, 4th, 5th 3 

Virginia: Regiments— 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 
15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 24th, 26th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 
32nd, 34th, 38th, 41st, 46th, 53rd, 56th, 57th, 59th, 61st-. 29 

Total 139 

133 Regiments — say averaging 1,000 men 133,000 soldiers 

6 Battalions — say averaging 500 men 3,000 soldiers 

136,000 soldiers 

Or about one-eighth of the entire Confederate Army. 
Besides these, various Batteries of Artillery and Regi- 
ments of Cavalry were under his command. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
His Career After the War. 

The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, was 
soon followed by that of Johnston's Army in North Caro- 
line and of all the other forces of the Confederacy. The 
great War was over ! Not, alas ! as we of the South hoped 
and strove for, but with the utter crushing of our bright 
dream of Constitutional liberty, with the devastation of our 
homes, with the destruction of the wealth gathered in years 
of prosperity, and more than all, in tire holocast of the best 
blood of the South. Thank God, however, without the 
manhood of the Survivors being conquered. The Confed- 
erates had fought a good fight ; they had nothing to be 
ashamed of ; they had everything to be proud of. They had 
proved their true worth. Their heads were bowed with 
grief, not shame, and on their brows rested immortal crowns 
of true glory. It is not for what one fights that counts, 
but hozv he fights. The Confederate Soldier returned to his 
ruined home, feeling that he had far exceeded his duty and 
had won a title for gallantry and patriotic devotion, unsur- 
passed in the history of the ages. 

A just tribute was paid to the Confederate Armies by 
Brevet Brig. Gen. Charles A. Whittier, of the U. S. Volun- 
teers, in a paper read before the Military Historical So- 
ciety of Massachusetts. This remarkable, fair and generous 



238 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

eulogy was from one of those who fought against the Con- 
federates, and was made relating to the Army of Northern 
Virginia. He says : "It was composed of the best men of 
the South." To this exception is respectfully taken, be- 
cause he could not have known that the Army of Northern 
Virginia did not embrace all "the best men," grand as they 
were. The various Armies were mainly formed from the 
States contiguous to the respective fields of operation. The 
men of Lee's Army were principally drawn from Virginia, 
North and South Carolina, while those of the Army of Ten- 
nessee were largely and as to the first named State ex- 
clusively, drawn from Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and 
Georgia. The soldiers of the Trans-Mississippi were from 
the States west of the great River. "The best men" were 
in all the Armies. 

"The Army of Northern Virginia will deservedly rank 
as the best Army which has existed on this continent ; suf- 
fering privations unknown to its opponents, it fought well 
from the early Peninsula days to the surrender of that small 
remnant at Appomattox. It seemed always ready, active, 
mobile; without doubt it was composed of the best men of 
the South, rushing to what they considered the defence of 
their country against a bitter invader; and they took the 
places assigned them, officer or private, and fought until 
beaten by superiority of numbers. The North sent no such 
army to the field and its patritism was of an easier kind, 
there was no rallying cry which drove all the best — the 
rich and the educated — to join the fighting Armies. All 
avocations here" (in the North) "went on without inter- 
ruption; the law, the clergy, educational institutions, mer- 
chants and traders, suffered nothing from a dimunition of 
their wor'king forces ; we had loyal leagues, excellent sani- 
tary and Christian Commissions, great 'War' Governors 
(Andrew Curtin and Morton), and secretaries, organizers 
of victory ; we had a people full of loyalty and devotion to 



CAREER AFTER THE WAR 239 

the cause and of hatred for the neighbor who differed as 
to the way in which the war should be conducted, never 
realizing that the way was by going or sending their best 
and brightest. As a matter of comparison, we have late- 
ly read that from William and Mary College, Virginia, 
thirty-two out of thirty-five professors and instructors 
abandoned the college work and joined the Army in the 
field. Harvard College sent one Professor from its large 
corps of Professors and Instructors. 

"We thought our own Massachusetts a pattern of loyalty 
and patriotism during the War. Read the record of the 
Massachusett's Volunteers, as published by the State, the 
bounties paid (thirteen million dollars by the State and more 
millions by the cities and towns — -a worthless expenditure — 
to give Massachusetts a nominal credit, but of no service in 
sending good fighting men to the front) ; the deserters; the 
hosts of men who never joined their regiments, and there 
is so much to be ashamed of ! An effort to fill the required 
quota without reference to the good service to be rendered ! 
The enlisting Officers at one time put out their Posters with 
something like this : 'Enlist in the heavy Artillery Regi- 
ments. No marching, no fighting, comfortable quarters, 
etc.!'" (General Whittier then furnishes a list of Massa- 
chusetts Artillery and Infantry Regiments containing 20,- 
957 men, of whom only 95 were killed in battle.) "This 
does not indicate brilliant or useful service ; and yet the ma- 
terial was probably better than that of any regiments of 
the State. The same class of men in the South were in the 
thickest of the fight and their intelligence and patriotism did 
a great work. And what a power these twenty thousand 
men I have mentioned would have been, with a little dis- 
cipline and skill, added to the Army of the Potomac — an 
Army Corps of twenty thousand men from Massachusetts 
alone! If it was so with us, it is reasonable to suppose that 
other Northern States pursued the same selfish policy." 



240 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

The close of the great struggle found all the industries of 
the South ruined, property wasted or destroyed, chaos reign- 
ing. But the indomnitable spirits of the people had not been 
subdued, in fact, they seemed strengthened by the fiery fur- 
nace of trouble, so the men, nobly helped and grandly in- 
spired by the women, put their hands to the ploughshare 
and at once commenced the herculean task of rebuilding 
their shattered fortunes. Social conditions were so upset 
that it was hard for many, particularly those of the Profes- 
sional classes to secure work in their accustomed spheres. 
In no class did this direful situation press more heavily or 
more disastrously than upon Officers of the old Army, who 
having resigned therefrom, joined the Confederate Army. 
This bore more particularly hard upon the older Ofiicers. 
There was no field in which to exercise the training of their 
lives. As a rule, the Army Ofiicers, like any other special 
worker, was disqualified for any other avocation. 

General Anderson, at the close of the war, was in his 
forty-fifth year and had served the United States as a cadet 
and as an Officer in its Army for twenty-three years. His 
Profession was that of a soldier, and in such profession 
he had won the most distinguished honors. He had passed 
the active years of his manhood and turned on the down- 
ward slope of life. His profession and largely his inherited 
property, from the results of the war, had been lost. He, 
the breadwinner of his family, was in a ruined land, his 
profession closed to him and without any other industrial 
training. Certainly the future was dark, dreary, hopeless. 
He returned to his ancestral home. Hill Crest, and essayed 
to plant a nearby plantation. To make a success of plant- 
ing, one should have a thorough knowledge of all its de- 
tails. General Anderson's previous career had not given 
him the requisite agricultural training. Success for him 
could only have been a miracle. As the days of miracles 
had past, the good General had to abandon his planting op- 



CAREER AFTER THE WAR 241 

erations. No Insurance Company, seeking notoriety, offered 
him a Presidency, so he went to Charleston to seek employ- 
ment. Employment was hard to obtain, but his necessities 
demanded it. So he, the trusted friend of Gen. Robert E. 
Lee, the leader of thousands, a man who had given his 
life for his State and her people, of the brightest intel- 
lect, had to take work as a day laborer in the yards of the 
South Carolina Railroad ! Just as soon as the President of 
the road, Mr. W. J. Magrath, heard of it, he took the Gen- 
eral into his office and gave him more congenial employ- 
ment. Here "his unassuming deportment in attendance on 
callers, deceived many who were unaware of the distin- 
guished presence in which they stood — before the Hero of 
an hundred battles — though his frankness, as he described 
how his friend had kindly taken him in hand, bespoke the 
true gentleman, which could not be disguised under the cir- 
cumstances and reverses of his checkered career. His man- 
ner, while in the connection referred to, resembled the soft- 
ness associated with Christian attributes, rather than the 
martial air of one who had gazed on the red lightning of so 
many battlefields, with unflinching eyes. He was, par ex- 
cellence, the spirit of true chivalry, manifest in self immola- 
tion and the dedication of all his energies to the cause with 
which his name will be hereafter linked in the annals of the 
Southern Confederacy. He was of that small number who 
look to no man for praise as a sustaining motive to the dis- 
charge of duty ; the quintessence of conscientiousness, he 
was unobstrusive even to the prejudice of a true and im- 
partial record of the part he bore in times wherein he bore 
so conspicuous a part." 

A thoroughly characteristic incident, showing General 
Anderson's kindliness and consideration for others, is told 
by Dr. T. Grange Simons. Dr. Simons was a gallant sol- 
dier of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, Hagood's Brigade, and 
served during the latter part of the war in Anderson's 



242 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. In 1870, there was a 
Railroad Excursion to Cincinnati, which carried a number 
of influential citizens from Charleston. On arriving at Cin- 
cinnati, the hotel occupied by the excursionists was very 
much crowded, so that the General, the Venerable Mr. 
James G. Holmes, Dr. Simons, and Mr. Jas. G. Holmes, Jr., 
had to occupy the same room. "When they were dressing 
in the morning after their arrival, Mr. Holmes took out of 
his travelling bag a shoe brush to clean his shoes. Imme- 
diately recognizing how difficult it would be for the old gen- 
tleman to do this. General Anderson, with a surprised, yet 
most earnest tone and manner, exclaimed : 'Oh ! Mr. 
Holmes, allow me to polish your shoes,' and urged him to 
consent. Mr. Holmes with equal politeness and firmness de- 
clined." Dr. Simons says "that the incident impressed me 
and I have referred to it, whenever General Anderson was 
recalled to my mind. As General Lee's trusted friend and 
Division" (and Corps) "Commander, they resembled each 
other in manner and gentleness. With dignity and sweet 
simplicity they were beyond compare." 

While in Charleston, the Confederate Survivors honored 
themselves by electing him the President of their Associa- 
tion, which office he filled until his removal to Camden, It 
was through the efforts of that Association, that a Monu- 
ment was erected over his grave in St. Helena Churchyard, 
Beaufort. He was also a beloved member of the Cincinnati, 
by descent from his distinguished grandfather. Col. Richard 
Anderson, of the Revolutionary Maryland Line, and whose 
distinguished career we referred to our first chapter. 

During his sojourn in Charleston, General Anderson had 
the sad misfortune to lose his devoted wife. She passed 
away August nth, 1872. During the happy days of peace, 
during the horrid nightmare of War, during the terrible 
years of troubles innumerable which followed, she had 
shared with him all his hopes, his pleasures, his cares. Her 



CAREER AFTER THE WAR 243 

loss was a heart-rending blow to him, which he bore, as he 
did every trial and vicissitude of life, with Christian forti- 
tude. 

His strict attention to his even humble duties in the Office 
of the President of the Railroad, won him promotion and 
he was given the responsible position of Agent of the Rail- 
road at Camden. The faithlessness and dishonesty of a 
trusted employee, involved him and he had to bear the re- 
sponsibility and thus lost this employment. 

Dec. 24, 1874, General Anderson married Miss Martha 
Mellette, who survived him and cared for him lovingly in 
his later years. 

The only recognition the State of South Carolina ever 
made of his distinguished service to and sacrifices for her, 
was now given him in his appointment to the position of 
Phosphate Inspector, with his office at Beaufort. There he 
gained that which came to him wherever he was placed, 
the love, respect and admiration of the entire community. 
All admired the quiet dignity with which he bore the mis- 
fortunes resting upon his latter years. 

General Anderson had only occupied this position and 
been in Beaufort a very few months, when on June 25, 
1879, the reaper. Death, claimed him as its victim. The 
day had been intensely hot. On his way home from his of- 
fice, he stopped, as he often did, at the office of the Beaufort 
Crescent. He had a package of lemons and told Editor S. 
H. Rodgers, that he proposed making an iced lemonade, to 
keep him cool. In the course of an hour or so, the news 
reached the office, that General Anderson had suddenly 
died from an attack of apoplexy. His many friends and 
admirers quickly gathered at his home, doing all they pos- 
sibly could and made all the arrangements for his burial, 
saving his afflicted wife from all trouble and care. Mr. S. 
H. Rodgers, who was greatly attached to the General, spent 
the night as one of the watchers over all human that was 



244 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

left of the distinguished Warrior. He was buried the next 
day. 

In his death General Anderson had his heart's wish ful- 
filled. It was sudden, and he did not wish a lingering ill- 
ness because of the trouble it would give others. His 
friend, Mr. Benj. F. Cuttino, once attended Church with 
General Anderson, and he noted that when the litany was 
read and the imploration reached "from battle and murder 
and from sudden death" that the General failed to make 
the pleading, "Good Lord, deliver us." He asked why this 
was and the General answered, "that he could not make that 
prayer for when the time came for him to go, he did not 
wish to be taken by any lingering illness, thereby giving 
trouble and anxiety to others ! 



Telegraphic advice from Beaufort to the News and Cou- 
rier contains the following graphic and touching account of 
the burial of General Anderson: 

"As the last rays of the setting sun glisters on the waters 
of the boy and gilded the tree tops, the body of Fight- 
ing Dick Anderson, was laid in its last resting place in the 
Cemetery of St. Helena Church, Beaufort. 

"During his short stay in this place, General Anderson 
had won the good will and esteem of all the people of the 
seacoast, to many of whom he was a comparative stranger, 
and although his death was sudden, almost the entire popu- 
lation of the city turned out to pay the last tribute of re- 
spect to his memory. 

"The funeral services took place this (June 27th), after- 
noon at 6 o'clock. A half hour previous to that time the 
Beaufort Volunteer Artillery, Capt. H. M. Stuart, com- 
manding, marched up to the residence of the deceased. The 
company turned out about forty, rank and file, and paraded 
in full uniform as infantry, leaving two detachments at the 



CAREER AFTER THE WAR 245 

Armory in charge of the battery to fire the salute in honor 
of the dead hero. 

"The body was borne from the house to the hearse by the 
following pallbearers : Col. Wm. Elliott, Judge J. H, Hud- 
son, Col. Paul Hamilton, Col. F. Gantt, Messrs. John G. 
Barnwell, Carlos Tracy, R. B. Fuller, James W. Moore and 
W. J. Verdier. The funeral cortege was formed in the fol- 
lowing order : First, Drum Corps ; second, Beaufort Artil- 
lery ; third, hearse ; fourth, pallbearers ; fifth, citizens in car- 
riages or on foot. Marching to the sound of muffled drums, 
the cortege reached the Church, where the Artillery opened 
ranks and presented arms, the pallbearers carrying in the 
casket and depositing it in front of the chancel. 

The Church was filled by the ladies of Beaufort. After 
the Casket had been deposited in front of the chancel, the 
Artillery marched into the middle aisle, faced inwards, 
rested arms, and stood thus through the services. After 
the services in the Church had been concluded, the remains 
were borne to the Cemetery adjoining the Church, beside 
the last resting place of John Barnwell, better known in 
the early history of South Carolina as 'Tuscarora' John for 
his Indian fighting. As the coffin was lowered into the 
grave a salute of thirteen guns was fired from the Arsenal 
and the bells of the church were tolled. 

In the funeral cortege Dr. R. R. Sams, the color bearer 
of the Beaufort Artillery carried the sword presented to 
General Anderson by the State of South Carolina for his 
services in the Mexican War. 

"It is a noteworthy coincidence that General Anderson 
was buried on the eve of Carolina Day, and it is a significant 
fact that a large number of the Carolina soldiery, who paid 
the last tribute of respect to his memory, were Northern 
citizens who had settled in the State since the close of the 
war." 

The Rev. Dr. John Kershaw, who was at that time Rector 



246 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

of St. Helena Church, said the funeral services over the 
noble dead. Dr. Kershaw was near General Anderson in 
his last battle of the war, Sailor's Creek, where he had last 
gallantly met his earthly foes and now had the sad privilege 
of praying to an Almighty Father to give grace to Fighting 
Dick Anderson, who had fought his last fight, surrendering 
to the universal conqueror, death, entered into his eternal 
rest to receive the reward of an unblemished life. 



The press of the Country teemed with eulogies of the 
great hero, who having survived the dangers of a hundred 
battle fields, was called from the paths of peace to his eter- 
nal reward. From these only a few extracts can be made, 
and these are selected from the newspapers of localities 
where he had resided, and who the better knew his great 
worth and could speak the words of truth from sympathetic 
and appreciative hearts. 



From an editorial in the Charleston, S. C, News and 
Courier, the following has been selected : 

"The day before the surrender, General Anderson's com- 
mand having been reduced to less than 500 muskets, he 
was relieved from duty with the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia by General Lee, in order that he might be free to make 
his way to Johnston's Army, and give that distinguished of- 
ficer the benefit of his eminent ability as a soldier. Before 
he could reach General Johnston, having to make a long de- 
tour, the capitulation of Johnston's Army had taken place, 
and General Anderson went sadly to his old home near 
Statesburg, in this State. How shall we speak of General 
Anderson as a soldier? His valiant deeds speak for him. 
At the Battle of Williamsburg he commanded Longstreet's 
Division, his brother, who was his Aide de Camp, being 



CAREER AFTER THE WAR 247 

killed at his side. In the battles around Richmond he 
won new fame, making the last and successful charge at 
Gaines' Mill and winning his promotion to the rank of 
Major General. At Sharpsburg he was wounded in the 
thigh, but remained in command of his Division, until he 
fell fainting from his horse. At Chancellorsville, with a 
line of battle no stronger than a picket line, he held the 
Confederate center, while Jackson executed his famous 
flank movement. The men of Anderson's Division were ten 
paces or more apart. Only the thick woods concealing their 
weakness, deterred the enemy from making a crushing at- 
tack. General Lee sent him thrice the order to press the 
enemy, being unaware of his critical condition. At last, he 
rode in person to the spot where General Anderson was. 
Two attacks had been repelled; and a third was about to 
be made. Jackson's guns opened at the critical moment and 
created a diversion. Seeing for himself the position of af- 
fairs, General Lee, usually so reserved and self-contained, 
clasped General Anderson by the hand and said, "My noble 
old soldier, I thank you from the bottom of my heart." 
After the march through the burning woods to Spottsyl- 
vania, and his successful repulse of the enemy. General Lee 
wrote him and his command a warm letter of thanks. So 
much of it as related to himself he suppressed. The rest 
he published to the Corps. Three times he was personally 
thanked by letter by General Lee and to few of even those 
nearest to him was it known that such letters were writ- 
ten? Brave as a Paladin of old; gentle and modest as a 
woman ! At Cold Harbor, General Lee sent to ask him how 
he was getting on. The answer was, "Give my compliments 
to General Lee and tell him I have just repulsed the Enemy's 
Thirteenth charge.'' To the latest hour of the Army of 
Northern Virginia he was in the thick of the contest. What 
shows the character of the man better than his terse ad- 
vice to a superior Officer, who saw the enemy closing 



248 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

in upon them v/ith overwhelming forces, an army against 
two Divisions — "Fight, to be sure." Worthy Commander 
was he of Anderson's Division, which never turned its 
back upon the enemy, save at Gettysburg, and there the 
men, disregarding the order to retire, were almost dragged 
to the rear. "Fighting Dick Anderson" equal to any 
emergency ; ready in every place, fit for every responsi 
bility ; doing loyal service wherever he was placed ; free 
from resentment when slighted, as President Davis chose 
to slight him and giving to those whom he should have 
commanded, cheerful aid and readiest obedience! South 
Carolina had cause to be proud of him, to love him and 
honor him. Yet was he almost a stranger amongst his 
own people i * * * 

It is too late to speak of what might have been and should 
have been. There will be profound regret now that more 
was not done by the State, for one to whom so heavy a 
debt was due. For few positions in civil life was he quali- 
fied. But he was well read and possessed of large informa- 
tion. It was not in him to take part in a scramble for 
preferment and they who pushed themselves to the front left 
no room for General Anderson, the ranking Officer in the 
Confederate service from South Carolina. 

It is past — the sweet loving spirit is at rest. Carolina's 
noble soldier sleeps in the bosom of the Mother he loved so 
devotedly. Those who knew him as he was, and who live 
after him, have in his life a model of Christian forbear- 
ance and humility and knightly courtesy and truth ! So 
tender and so true! God bless the memory of 'Fighting 
Dick' Anderson." 



The Camden Journal, S. C, July 3, 1879: After review- 
ing most touchingly and sympathetically his splendid career 
through a long and eventful life, says: 



CAREER AFTER THE WAR 249 

"Today this great man is no more. He sleeps his last 
long sleep. He has traveled that road from whence no 
traveler returns. But in the walks of life, while here with 
us, he has left his footprints, and indeed are they worthy 
of emulation and pattern. Quiet and unassuming, he meekly 
bore the honors of which a hero might well be proud. The 
plaudits of the public he did not seek, save by his stern and 
inflexible love of duty. The glittering tinsel of the politi- 
cal field had no charms for him, and the ever changing tide 
of popular favor never drew him into its muddy and fickle 
channel. The peaceful, the quiet, the certain path of the 
Christian was his whole delight, and that seemed to govern 
and control him. From a high and exalted eminence he 
accepted an obscure competency without a murmur or re- 
proach, weaving around him, in those quiet duties, the love 
and esteem of all good men, with meshes stronger than 
steel. Truly, in the language of our esteemed contemporary, 
the News and Courier, he was " 'Brave as a Paladin of old, 
gentle and modest as a woman.' To the people of Camden 
he was particularly dear." For years he was amongst us, 
with us. In our dark days he shared our troubles, in our 
joys, he rejoiced with us. But a few months ago he left 
us. He left no enemy behind him, but all were his friends. 
His memory revives a tender chord of love in each and 
every heart, and his death is felt by no limit of youth or 
age. Gone forever ; Noble Son ! True always to his 
Mother's call, in peace or war, storm or calm. * * * Peace 
to his ashes. May the turf rest gently upon his soldierly, 
manly grave. May the dews of Heaven fall lightly, and as 
the waves of the great ocean mournfully come and go 
nearer and nearer to his last resting place, may God keep 
his spirit, and may a grateful people never forget him." 



Rev. Frederick Jones, for many years Pastor of the Beau- 



250 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

fort Baptist Church, writing to the Baptist Courier, says of 
the late General R. H. Anderson: "But enough has been 
said as to his valor and achievements, in the Secular Press ; 
and our only purpose is to refer to some religious traits — 
which were no less evident than his martial qualifications — 
and of far more value to succeeding generations. He was, 
beyond doubt a sincere and humble Christian. We gather 
this from numerous and searching conversations we had 
with him on the subject, and were not a little surprised at 
his clear delineation of a practical and progressive Chris- 
tian life. In the home of God, his bearing was always of 
the most reverential and solemn character, a close listener, 
he never failed to get something on which he could feast 
and profitably consider during the ensuing week, while it 
never could be said that he hid his light under a bushel. 
I believe it was a great pleasure to him to bear public testi- 
mony to the value of religion and while his native modesty 
shrank from that prominence which an official character 
would have given him in the Church, he was ever ready to 
call Jesus Christ his Master. But we may also say that re- 
ligion was an ever increasing joy to him, and especially so 
as he felt himself growing old and nearing the confines of 
the eternal world. But the most remarkable of all, was the 
manner in which God saw fit to remove him from the world. 
In a conversation at the table of his boarding house (where 
he was ever more like an honored member of the family 
than a boarder), he said in allusion to death: "I thank God 
that I can express my readiness to depart, whenever God, in 
His providence, may send for me; but if I could have my 
way, I should like to go "quick as a lightning flash." I do 
not wish to cause the trouble, which would inevitably at- 
tend a long sickness.' And God seemed to have exactly met 
the wish he expressed, for upon the return of his devoted 
wife to the room which she had left for a moment to get 
him a newspaper, she found him gone to the 'better land.' In 



CAREER AFTER THE WAR 251 

a moment he had been released from 'the tabernacle of 
clay' apparently without the slightest trouble and just as 
the setting Sun was passing beneath the horizon. Martial 
fame is not insignificant, nor is personal popularity to be 
undervalued ; but there are traits and facts which will live 
and expand, when every material shall have crumbled into 
dust." 

(General Anderson was an Episcopalian and for many 
years was a Vestryman in the Church of the Holy Cross, 
Statesburg, S. C.) 



After the news of the passing away of General Ander- 
son reached Statesburg. his old home, his lifelong neigh- 
bors assembled, July 3, 1879, at the Church of the Holy 
Cross, just across the road from Hill Crest, the General's 
old home. It was presided over by Dr. M. Reynolds, who 
on taking the chair said : 

"My acquaintance with our friend, the late General R. H. 
Anderson, dates back nearly forty years ago, from the time 
he completed his Military studies at West Point. His 
friends, around his old home here, had not many oppor- 
tunities of seeing much of him until after the close of his 
active Military career — this embraces the Mexican War — 
long and arduous services on the Frontier subsequently — 
and then our great War. 

"It is well known to all of us and to the country at large 
how ably, meritously and heroically he discharged his 
duties and bore himself on every theater of action to which 
he was assigned in that stupendous struggle; those duties 
were executed, so faithfully and so well, as to connect his 
mame for all time with the history of his country, and so 
as to make that name a household word in the homes of 
South Carolina. But I will not bear upon that brilliant 
career, it is stamped and engraved imperishably upon the 



252 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

minds and hearts of his Countrymen, and high upon that 
role, which depicts and ilhistrates the records of some, 
whose fame will not be allowed to perish, no name wih 
stand out in more luminous relief than that of General R. 
H. Anderson. 

"I saw much of him after the War, and it was during 
these years that my estimate of him, in his matured man- 
hood, was formed. My relations with him and his family 
in the discharge of my professional duties, afforded me 
many opportunities, which otherwise might not have existed, 
of making up my opinion of his character and life under 
those surroundings which are always most favorable for 
arriving at a just estimate of men. Upon this phase of 
his private life, it is needless to dwell. All who knew him 
intimately, esteemed and loved him. One feature among 
his many excellent traits and virtues always impressed me 
forcibly, which was that pleasing blending and commingling, 
in his mental constitution of benevolence, tenderness, almost 
approaching that of woman, with the greatest firmness, in- 
trepidity, and courage reaching the highest order of valor. 
"I conceive that there was no man connected with the 
eventful times through which he passed, who deserved more 
of his State that General Anderson. How those services and 
the sacrifices he made in relinquishing his position in the 
Federal Army and a future which held out such material 
advantages and brilliant prospects, has been requited, it is 
bootless to dwell upon now. Few, perhaps can fully esti- 
mate the hard effort it cost him to sever himself from old 
Army friends and associates and shatter that esprit-de-corps, 
which binds such together. 

"He returned to his native State with a record unsur- 
passed — and asked for nothing — absolutely nothing! Nor 
was he willing that his intimate friends should present a 
-claim in his behalf. He sought seclusion and the society 
of a few companions, and like his illustrous contemporary 



CAREER AFTER THE WAR 253 

General Lee, who esteemed and loved him, withdrew as 
much as possible from the common gaze of men. This 
course was the result of his modest, retiring, unselfish 
nature and a part of his intellectual and moral constitution. 
"In the nature of our deceased friend existed nothing 
having affinity with self assertion. I have never known a 
man more entirely devoid of the element of selfishness — 
nothing small or contracted touched the head or heart of 
General Anderson. So much have I been constrained to 
say on this sad occasion, and I wish to place this tribute, all 
feeble, imperfect and inadequate as it is, upon his new-made 
grave." 

The following Preamble and Resolutions submitted by 
Col. S. Sumter were then unanimously, and with deep feel- 
ing, adopted : 

'Tn view of the sad intelligence which has reached his 
old home of the sudden and unlooked for death of the late" 
General R. H. Anderson, we, his early friends, acquain- 
tances and neighbors, have assembled here today, amid the 
scenes of his birthplace and in view of the residence in 
which he first saw the light and where his early days were 
passed, to take cognizance of the mournful event and to 
pass some tribute of respect to his memory. 

"Be it therefore resolved : First, That in the death of 
General R. H. Anderson we have been bereft as a com- 
munity, of a valued friend, who formerly went in and out 
amongst us ; the State deprived of one of its most estimable, 
valued and patriotic citizens ; and the Church, of which 
he was a member, of one, who frequently held the positions 
of vestryman and delegate to her annual conventions. 

"Second, That we shall always throughout the coming 
future, retain a lively recollection of his many virtues and 
distinguished worth; of his warm, affectionate and genial 
disposition; of that renown which his military qualifications 



254 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

secured; of the many excellencies of his private life, and 
of the extent of his elevated patriotism. 

"Third, That we deeply sympathize with his bereaved and 
afflicted family under this heavy and sudden dispensation 
of Divine Providence, and that a copy of these proceedings 
be forwarded by the Chairman to the widow and family of 
the deceased. 

"Fourth, That in further tribute to the memory of Gen- 
eral R. H, Anderson the above Preamble of Resolutions be 
published in the News and Courier and our own County 
Journals." 

On Memorial Day, May, 1916, Mr. Marion W. Seabrook 
was the orator at the celebration at the old Church of the 
Holy Cross, at Statesburg, within view of Hill Crest, Gen- 
eral Anderson's birthplace and home. He selected General 
Anderson's life and services as his theme, and among the 
many touching, true and deserved tributes which he paid to 
the departed hero summed up all in these concise words : 

'T assert that Richard Heron Anderson possessed all the 
qualities of the great; the intellect and action of a genius; 
the heart of a child in its tenderness ; the valor of a hero in 
his bravery, and the gentleness of a woman in his demeanor. 
These qualities combined with his excessive modesty made 
him truly great; and, of all his characteristics, the greatest 
was, he had learned to obey. His example was an inspira- 
tion, his life a beacon light and his love of duty a sermon." 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Monument at Beaufort, S. C. 

Some years after his death, a chaste but simple, a proper 
tribute to the inherent quaHties of the man, monument was 
erected over General Anderson's grave at Beaufort. Capt. 
B. S. Sams, commanding the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery, 
formerly Stuart's famous Confederate Battery, most kindly 
furnishes an account of the incipiency and early efforts to 
mark the resting place of General Anderson : "His grave 
remained unmarked until 1887 — then wishing to remedy 
the apparent neglect and also being desirous of identifying 
the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery, then under my command, 
with anything that might be done in the way of a suitable 
tribute to General Anderson's civil and military worth, I 
sought an interview with Capt. F. W. Dawson" (' most 
gallant Confederate Veteran'), "Editor of the Charleston 
News and Courier, and requested of him his assistance and 
co-operation in the above. He met me very cordially, and 
expressed much interest in my suggestions, and on the fol- 
lowing day he wrote a strong editorial in his paper, in be- 
half of our efforts. Captain Dawson also placed me in per- 
sonal touch with Col. Zimmerman Davis, Maj. E. N. Thurs- 
ton and Gen. T. A. Huguenin. From these gentlemen we 
received valuable assistance, resulting, as I have stated, in 
placing over General Anderson's grave in 1891, a substan- 
tial and handsome granite sarcopagus, with a durable iron 



256 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

enclosure. On the North face of the tomb the inscription 
reads : 'Lieut. General Richard Heron Anderson, Confeder- 
ate States Army.' On the South face: 'Born Oct. 7th, 1821 
— died June 26th, 1879.' The tomb and enclosure is now 
(1917) in perfect state of preservation. 

The iron enclosure was the gift of Capt. Neils Christen- 
sen, a resident of Beaufort, who had been a Union soldier 
and had fought against General Anderson's troops at Gettys- 
burg. The gift was prompted by a generous heart to honor 
the gallant and great. The troops of 'Fighting Dick' were 
much admired by the Union troops with which Capt. Chris- 
tensen sei'ved, for their splendid fighting qualities. The 
gift was a very handsome act on the part of Capt. Christen- 
sen and particularly as it was bestowed when the war bit- 
terness between the sections was still strong. It required a 
broad-minded man to have done it then, and a liberal man 
to have done it at any time. 

The Veterans to whom Captain Dawson had referred Cap- 
tain Sams subsequently presented the matter to the Survi- 
vors Association of Charleston District, of which General 
Anderson had been President, while living in Charleston, 
which body took action in November, 1889, and early in 
1890 the Association issued the following appeal for the 
requisite funds to erect the monument : 

"In Memoriam. 
Lieut. Gen. Richard H. Anderson. 

"At a meeting of the Survivors Association of Charles- 
ton District, held in November last, the following resolution 
was unanimously adopted : 

"Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the 
Chair in response to the suggestion of Captain Sams of the 
Beaufort Artillery, which committee shall take such steps 
as shall seem expedient, to raise funds for the erection of a 




OQ 



^ 



c 



MONUMENT AT BEAUFORT 257 

suitable monument to the memory of Lieut. Gen, Richard 
H. Anderson, of South CaroHna, and that this committee 
shall invite the co-operation of the several Associations of 
Survivors, and of individuals, in this State and in the 
other States. 

Under this resolution the following committee was 
appointed : Gen. B. H. Rutledge, chairman ; Col. R. M. 
Sims, Major E. N. Thurston, Capt. E. R. White, Capt. 
F. W. Dawson. 

General Anderson was buried at Beaufort, South Caro- 
lina, where he died, and his grave is marked by a plain 
head-board. There is no other visible memorial of him 
who rendered such heroic service to his State and the 
Southern Confederacy, and who deservedly held an exalted 
position in the regard and confidence of the troops he com- 
manded, and of his illustrious commander, Gen. R. E, Lee. 

General Anderson first commanded a brigade of South 
Carolinians. In his division in the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, were troops from Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Missis- 
sippi and Alabama. At different times he commanded 
troops from every Southern State. Everywhere, and on 
all occasions he proved the fitness of the name by which he 
was best known, that of "Fighting Dick Anderson". 

"The committee feel that it will be unnecessary, and per- 
haps unbecoming, to enlarge upon the reasons why the 
last resting place of General Anderson should be marked 
by a monumental shaft, which, in its strength and sim- 
plicity, shall fitly symbolize the character of the dead soldier, 
and, at the same time, shall bear witness to the loving re- 
membrance of his comrades in arms. It is proper to say, 
however, that there is no desire to incur any considerable 
expense, or go beyond the bounds of what is proper as a 
mark of the affection of his comrades and of his own undis- 
puted worth. 

"It is desirable that the monument shall be erected with- 



258 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

out delay, and it is urged, therefore, that subscriptions to 
the monument fund be forwarded at once to Capt. F. W. 
Dawson, treasurer, Charleston, S. C. It is proposed to 
close the list at the end of April next. 

"Newspapers which approve of the object for which the 
committee was appointed are requested to give to this cir- 
cular such publicity as they deem appropriate. 
"R. M. Sims, 
E. R. White, 

E. N. Thurston, 

F. W. Dawson, 

B, H. RuTLEDGE, Chairman." 

Having been a member of the "Cincinnati" of Charleston 
that Society contributed their share most generously to this 
fund. The required amount having been contributed, the 
monument was erected and it was unveiled Oct. 7, 1891. 
Eleven years after the interment of the dead soldier, who 
so peacefully rests from life's fitful fever in beautiful St. 
Helena Church Yard, was this tribute paid to his memory. 
The exercises commenced at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and 
in spite of the unpropitious weather, a great crowd was 
present. A prayer was first delivered by the Rev. E. T. 
Walker, which was followed by Dr. H. M. Stuart, War 
Captain of Stuart's Battery, in the following brief but 
most heartfelt words : "For the second time we meet at 
this sacred spot. Here eleven years ago, with the sound of 
the minute gun, and the tolling bell, we laid the war worn 
soldier down to take his long rest under the shadow of this 
old Church. Today we have gathered here a second time, 
that with an enduring stone memorial, with garlands and 
wreaths, we may pay a loving tribute to his memory, and 
hand down to future generations the name of a pure Chris- 
tion, a true gentleman and a brave soldier — General Richard 
H. Anderson. The idea of this monument was first sug- 



MONUMENT AT BEAUFORT 259 

gested by Capt. R. S. Sams. He was ably seconded by the 
late Editor Dawson, General Huguenin and others, and soon 
we shall see unveiled before us the result of this sentiment 
of love and reverence for him, who was admiringly called 
by his men "Fighting Dick". When the order came "furl 
that banner" I think how that brave spirit broke, when like 
a true soldier he heard and obeyed. Have we not heard of 
his brave struggle with adversity, and do we not remember 
the dignified submission with which he lived out the last 
year of his noble life among us in old Beaufort, until that 
day when we met here full of the sacred memory of the 
past and love for the dead. 

"Soldier rest, thy warfare o'er ; 
Sleep the sleep that knows no waking." 

We have not only met to unveil this monument erected 
to the memory of General Anderson, but that the honor of 
guarding the sacred spot may be formally placed in the 
keeping of the Company who had also the honor of bearing 
him to rest in this spot. We have been fortunate in having 
sent to us who raised this monument, one who shared 
with General Anderson in the perils of that Lost Cause, 
one whose name is well-known throughout our State, one 
who shared with Rhett, Elliott and Mitchell in their glorious 
defence of Sumter — Who so fit to? 

The monument at this moment was unveiled by Misses 
Lelia G. Sams and Lena P. Hay. Gen. T. A. Huguenin 
then delivered the following address : 

"After an absence of thirty years I come to you charged 
with an important and very honorable duty. I come to 
you, Citizens of Beaufort, and more especially the Beau- 
fort Volunteer Artillei-y, to place in your hands for safe- 
keeping and tender care, this monument, erected to the 
memory of one of South Carolinia's most patriotic sons — 
devoted to her in prosperity and adversity, whose long life 



260 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

was a 'long sacrifice to duty' and who, time and time again, 
risked that life for her and her cause. It mattered not 
whether it was in the rugged approaches to the City of 
Mexico, or the wild Western plains against a barbarous 
enemy, or battling among the fair fields and flowing streams 
of Virginia, his course was the same — where duty called 
he was found — where life was in jeopardy, his was at 
stake. In success, as in defeat, his heart never swerved ; 
his purpose single and true, his object his country's welfare. 
To such a man, my friends, we are assembled here today, the 
Seventieth Anniversary of his birth, to do honor; to erect 
in this enduring granite, a monument that will hand down to 
generations yet unborn, the name and fame of General 
Richard Heron Anderson. 

"I do not come here altogether of my own accord. I come 
also as a representative of the Survivors Association of 
Charleston, to deliver this monument to you, because in 
your midst his sacred and honored dust reposes, and be- 
cause the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery was the first to 
inaugurate the movement which has culminated in this 
manifestation of the love and respect of South Carolina 
for her gallant son. At the same time it gives me great 
satisfaction to say that the consummation of this work is 
due to the efforts of that gallant command, the Fourth 
Brigade of Charleston, who, duly appreciating his services 
and desirous of honoring his memory, lent its aid to secure 
this lasting memento to the senior officer furnished by South 
Carolina to the Confederate cause. 

"I will not attempt to give to you a resume of his life 
or services. To do this accurately would be impossible, for 
with a modesty which was almost morbid, he strove 'to 
hide his light under a bushel,' and the facts are not at- 
tainable. Simplicity and modesty were so entwined with 
his courage and patriotism to make his life and public ser- 
vices unknown to all but eye witnesses of the actual events. 



MONUMENT AT BEAUFORT 261 

"It is related of him that after the battle of Chancellors- 
ville and after he had been personally thanked by General 
Lee on the field and had received a letter from General 
Lee, commending him personally, as well as his Division, 
for their gallant conduct, he published only so much of the 
letter as related to the troops, and omitted entirely that 
part that referred to his own valuable services ; so it is that 
the record is wanting in the data which would place him in 
the eyes of his countrymen at large in that high position in 
which he was held by those who had the opportunity to 
know him personally and at the same time who had the 
ability to judge him correctly. His nearest relatives and 
friends heard nothing of his deeds from him. To give an 
example of his reticence and modesty it is related by one 
near and dear to him that on a certain occasion after the 
War, an officer, who had served on his Staff, complained 
to General Anderson that a certain ofiicer, high in command 
in Virginia, had withheld much of the honorable credit 
which was due to himself, and that it needed but a few 
words from him, given for publication, to correct these 
errors. General Anderson, with a degree of gravity which 
was almost stern replied, "It will ill become me to join in 
the general scramble for honor and notoriety ; it fully suf- 
fices me to know that in every battle in which I was en- 
gaged I did my duty as a soldier, and that I enjoyed the 
confidence of the men I commanded." And so it is, he did 
his duty faithfully ; he asked no reward but the satisfaction 
of conscience; he fought not for praise, but in obedience to 
his Country's call. His private life was as pure as his 
public services were distinguished. The State of South 
Carolina in her day of power and prosperity honored him by 
presenting him with a valuable sword on his return from 
Mexico. I sincerely trust that the day will come when the 
State will erect a Temple of Fame at Columbia, in which 



262 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

no prouder name will be inscribed than that of Richard 
Heron Anderson. 

"The modest gentleman, the unassuming warrior sleeps 
his last sleep in the bosom of his native State he loved 
and served so well. Now we can say : 

"You rest in the land of the cypress and pine, 
Where the jessamine blooms and the gay woodbine ; 
Where the moss drops low from the green oak tree, 
Oh ! that sun bright land is the land for thee." 

Capt. Thomas Talberd, Commanding Officer of the Beau- 
fort Volunteer Artillery, and for that Company, gracefully 
and most earnestly accepted the trust. 

The crowning tribute to the great departed was thus 
paid. Requicscat in pace. Like the everlasting granite of 
his sarcopagus, may his fame ever live, cherished in the 
hearts of the people he so faithfully served and whose lib- 
erties he so valiantly defended. Too much cannot be done 
by South Sarolina to repay the tremendous debt she owes 
a son, whose sword was wielded to defend her homes, 
whose skill directed momentous events and whose gallantry 
was ever an inspiration to his compatriots to deeds of 
heroic valor. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

General Anderson's Character. 

The story of General Anderson's eventful life has been 
told. It is the story of a noble man, possessed of all the 
attributes which constitute true greatness. One utterly with- 
out that self-assertion, which alas ! seems so necessary to 
win recognition and gain the plaudits of mankind. Its 
valued lessons will be lost and its impress fail, unless the 
tale be concluded by showing, in the strongest light, those 
qualities which made him so grand a man. All that was 
mortal of him has been reverently placed beneath the sod. 
But the fame of his glorious deeds still lives. Its influence 
for good and as a high example, will be lost to mankind, 
were it allowed to rest with his body in the dust of his 
mother. South Carolina. That fame it is our precious duty 
to preserve, those noble qualities which made him the be- 
loved man, the pious Christian, the gallant soldier, the skill- 
ful General. If his good deeds die with him he has lived 
in vain. Let us, therefore, see that his splendid life shall 
be ever a beacon to illumine the pathway of untold genera- 
tions, that they might live in the light of his sterling man- 
hood and emulate his many virtues. 

The most conspicuous quality in the character of General 
Anderson was a gentle modesty, a quiet retirement, utter 
absence of self-assumption or glorification. So, his aim in 



264 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

life was always to do — to achieve, not to win praise from 
his deeds. 

Once General Longstreet asked him if he could capture 
a certain important and ably defended position. General 
Anderson did not say, "/ can do it," but with true modesty 
answered, "that if any troops could, the men of my Brigade 
can." So, leading them, his Brigade did capture it. When, 
after the War he was occupying an humble position in the 
Office of the President of the South Carolina Railroad, 
everyone who came in, was struck by the extreme modesty 
and gentle courtesy with which he, the great General, 
welcomed all visitors, high or low, rich or poor. 

For worldly success he was too retiring. He never did 
the least to fix attention on himself or on his magnificent 
achievements. All his army papers bear witness to this 
characteristic. When sent by General Lee to assist General 
Early in his Valley Campaign of 1864, though ranking 
General Early and entitled thereby to the supreme com- 
mand, he never claimed it, in fact, declined it, but most 
cordially and efficiently rendered General Early all the 
counsel he could give or the aid his brave men could put 
forth. (It may be recalled that so long as he was with 
General Early, success crowned General Early's every move- 
ment.) Many, many other instances could be cited to show 
this innate modesty. All who knew him bear witness to it 
and to his retiring disposition (except in the face of the 
enemy), and as to its being a most prominent characteristic. 
But it was blended with the utmost determination. It was 
the polish on the surface of the granite firmness of a 
determined character. 

He was ever grateful for any favors extended to him, 
and always spoke with the deepest feeling of those who 
helped him in the struggles of his latter years. He was as 
truly unselfish as he was absolutely devoid of any other 
narrowness. He was broad, nothing small or illiberal ever 



GENERAL ANDERSON'S CHARACTER 265 

touched his heart. That he was affectionate, the letter to 
his father, writing of his brother's sad death at the Battk 
of Williamsburg, most strikingly testifies. None but a 
man with a loving heart could pen such words. 

He loved his country and was anxious to serve her in 
trouble in the hour of danger and in her days of prosperity. 
When the fall of the Confederacy ruined his people and 
deprived him of his profession and his support, the Khedive 
of Egypt offered him rank, emolument and honor in his 
Army, but General Anderson declined, saying to a friend 
concerning the same, that he thought best to stick to South 
Carolina for she was not yet out of her troubles. 

He was generous — that true generosity which shows itself 
in consideration of others. What more noble or more con- 
siderate, can be found than his careful anxiety for the 
safety of a stranger, the brave Capt. J. F. J. Caldwell, when 
he exposed himself, to carry a message from General 
McGowan to General Anderson at the battle of March 31, 
1865 ^ His broad, noble. Christian generosity was shown by 
his never bearing malice to those who had slighted or in- 
jured him. His heart was too large to hold petty feelings 
of unkindness to others. 

He was chivalric, in that highest type of chivalry — self- 
immolation — and in his bearing, without a murmur, the 
troubles which so heavily rested upon him, when, having 
sacrificed a lifelong profession, in his duty to South Car- 
olina, was brought almost to starvation thereby. He was, 
however hard fortune bore upon him, always the courteous 
knight. "Brave as a Paladin of old, gentle and modest as 
a woman." Richard H. Anderson, the man, was by inheri- 
tance, by culture, by self-control and education, by his 
nature and by his accomplishments the highest type of the 
old-time Southern Gentleman ; a type of man created by the 
old-time civilization of the South, and which has passed 
away with the conditions which created it. 



266 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

He was not only chivalrous, generous, considerate, but by 
the manner he bore his many trials, higher and nobler — 
Christ-like. He was a Christian, as surely as he was a 
gentleman. He was ever deeply pious and took an active 
interest in his Church and in all that made Christianity prac- 
tical in a man's life. Only his intimates and friends knew 
the man and the Christian in Richard H. Anderson. The 
world knew him as the Soldier and the General. 

As a Soldier he was conspicuous for his bravery — not 
impetuously, but steadfastly gallant. This was oft displayed 
during his service in the Mexican War, and during all the 
years when he was active on the frontier; and during his 
entire career in the Confederate Army. His gallantry was 
pre-eminent, and without it, he never could have reached 
the distinction he attained. 

Reared at West Point, under the splendid discipline of 
the Country's superb Military College, two of its lessons 
were deeply impressed upon Cadet Anderson and were car- 
ried with him all through his life: Duty, as General Lee 
expresses it, "the noblest word in the English language," 
and obedience — Duty and obedience. All through his 
career General Anderson was noted for his faithfulness to 
duty. He was ever ready for duty, and everything else 
was pushed aside if it conflicted with his duty. Never did 
he vary from this, and having this high principal deeply 
embedded in his heart, no single instance in his entire career 
can be cited when the siren call of pleasure or profit or 
indolence or fear, ever swerved him from the path of duty. 
Embraced in duty is obedience. He was ever ready to obey, 
without question, any order from those in authority over 
him. When before the Battle of Chancellorsville, he, with 
his Division, was sent to check and hold back the over- 
whelming forces of General Hooker, as he lay, the lion in 
the path, he was asked what he proposed to do. His answer, 
brief and laconic, was: "Fight! General Lee says so" — 



GENERAL ANDERSON'S CHARACTER 267 

"Fight" never mind the odds against him. "Fight," however 
outnumbered he may have been — but "Fight," not because 
it was prudent, but "Fight" — because "General Lee says 
so." When, later on, in the great battle which followed, 
he held a long line with a scant line of skirmishers, which 
the enemy could easily have run over, he deemed that it 
was not his place to question, not his part to call for rein- 
forcements, but to stand against the enemy — because Gen- 
eral Lee ordered him to do so. After he had held his 
ground for long hours, and just as the guns of Stonewall 
Jackson opened in the enemy's rear, General Lee, usually 
reserved and self-composed, rode up, and clasping him by 
the hand said : "My noble old soldier ! I thank you from 
the bottom of my heart." 

He was cool in the face of every danger, and heroic when 
it came. He was not a fiery, impetuous fighter, but struck 
hard, and being cool and clear headed, knew where to 
strike so as to attain the very best results. Seldom his 
blows were fruitless. 

But he shone must illustrously as a leader of men — as a 
General. As such he was eminently skillful and absolutely 
safe. Twice by his generalship he saved the fortunes of 
the Army of Northern Virginia, the operations of General 
Lee and the life of the Confederacy, once by his own 
initiative and without directions from higher authority. At 
Spottsylvania, after a long, fatiguing, dreary night's march, 
he learned of the enemy's approach in heavy force, when 
General Lee did not apprehend it to be there, he moved up 
his Corps promptly, and as General Grant says in his 
"Memoirs", totally defeated his movement, Lee and Grant 
had been fighting in the Wilderness. Grant made a flank 
march to strike Lee's rear at Spottsylvania Court House. 
Had Grant been successful he would have been between Lee 
and Richmond and nearer the Capital, which he could have 
captured before Lee could have interposed his army for its 



268 LIFE OF GEN. RICHARD H. ANDERSON 

protection. So General Anderson's masterly skill saved 
Lee's army from overwhelming disaster and Richmond from 
capture. General Anderson rose, grade by grade, not be- 
cause of any political or friendly partiality, but from his 
skill, joined, as it was, to his other sterling qualities. The 
skillful handling of the troops of his own and other Bri- 
gades under his command, at the Battles of Williamsburg 
and Seven Pines, won him promotion to be a Major 
General, and his subsequent career pointed him out as the 
most fitting general officer in the Army, to replace Long- 
street, when that distinguished leader fell wounded in the 
Wilderness, and won him his commission as Lieutenant 
General. 

General Anderson was never spectacular, but was always 
a determined fighter — both determined and a fighter. His 
soubriquet of "Fighting Dick" was won by this character- 
istic, and he was always true to the reputation as such, which 
he won at Seven Pines. At the Second Battle of Cold 
Harbor General Lee sent to ask him how he was getting on. 
General Anderson's reply was: "Give my compliments to 
General Lee and tell him I have just repulsed the enemy's 
thirteenth charge" — what determination ! To stand thirteen 
charges and wait quietly for the next! General Anderson 
certainly had the same bull dog courage which characterized 
Gen. Robt. E. Lee, and both were alike in their gentleness. 
In some respects General Anderson greatly resembled Gen- 
eral Lee. Both were fighters, both were determined fighters, 
both were quiet and retiring in their manners, neither sought 
the applause of the world, and both were actuated by one 
ambition, the highest and noblest, to serve the Southern 
Confederacy with the utmost faithfulness, and serve it to 
the bitter end. 

Thus we see General Anderson, a man unselfish, gentle, 
modest; a Christian, pure, earnest, devout; a soldier of 
undaunted courage; a general, prudent, bold, skillful, sue- 



GENERAL ANDERSON'S CHARACTER 269 

cessful. Such was "Fighting Dick Anderson," the ranking 
officer in that glorious band of heroes which South Carohna 
furnished to defend the Southern Confederacy and to main- 
tain her rights — and worthy to rank above them all. He was 
South Carolina's Confederate beacon light, who shone by 
his own brilliancy, and not a steeple illumined only by the 
praise of mankind. He stands forever, not by what is told 
of him, not what he told himself, but simply and grandly 
by what he nobly achieved — and did it so, as to deserve that 
true fame, which Carolinians should ever be zealous and 
proud to award to one of the greatest Sons the State 
ever produced. 



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